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THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 




Ferdinand I of Bulgaria 



THE NEAR EAST 
FROM WITHIN 



BY 

* * * 



ILLUSTRATED 




NEW YORK 
E. p. DUTTON & COMPANY 

681 FIFTH AVENUE 



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Published 19 i8 
by e. p. dutton & company 

All Rights Reserved 



First printing. . . .September, 1918 
Second printing October, 1918 

^ C2 ^ -^ ^' 



Printed in the United States of America 



PREFACE 

IT has so happened that many years of my life 
have been spent in the by-paths of European 
politics. At times a silent observer, not seldom 
a mere cog in the great wheel, or again, entrusted 
with operations of diplomatic moment, circum- 
stances made me acquainted with the mysteries and 
under-currents of political life and of diplomatic in- 
trigue in many parts of the world. Latterly, things 
which I did not understand seem to have become 
clear. Events, the significant purport of which I 
did not earlier realise, now stand out vivid and 
strong from the chambers of my memory. Trifles 
have become invested with prime importance. 

When the war broke out it seemed my duty to 
remain silent. It were of little avail to add to the 
bitterness and hatred which sounded on every hand. 
Yet I had many a debate with myself as to how far 
loyalty demanded a veiling of matters which, once 
made known, would throw into truer focus the 
inner history of the Balkan and allied Eastern 
troubles, and their root causes, during the last 
twenty years. 

Rightly or wrongly, I arrived at the decision that 
my greater duty was to mankind rather than to a 
man. 



PREFACE 

Hence these impressions of Eastern affairs as 
observed in the course of my passing from capital 
to capital, and as told me by one or other of certain 
people who were active in propagating the influ- 
ence of their respective Governments. 

Whether I shall succeed in capturing the interest 
of the reader is not for me to say. The only thing 
which I can assure those who read the pages that 
follow is, that whereas they perhaps may find sev- 
eral matters to shock or distress, they will not come 
across any that are consciously exaggerated. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I Sultan Abdul Hamid : His Personality and 

Policy i 

II Life in Constantinople 29 

III Sultan Mohammed V 38 

IV Enver Pasha 52 

V Russian Influence IN Constantinople . 64 

VI German Prestige in the Near East . . 74 

VII Ambassadors at the Sublime Porte . . 88 

VIII The Sheikh-ul-Islam and Religious Fanat- 
icism 102 

IX Khedive Abbas Hilmi 109 

X Emperor William II. and the Tsar . , 119 

XI King Carol of Roumania 127 

XII Impressions of Bucharest 140 

XIII The German Emperor at Konopischt . . 150 

XIV Servia in the 'Eighties 157 

XV Alexander of Servia and Queen Draga . 168 

XVI Servia under King Peter 179 

XVII A Russian's Opinion 190 

XVIII Rival Influences in Greece .... 198 

vii 



CONTENTS 



Vlll 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XIX The Failure of German Intrigue in Mon- 
tenegro 



XX Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria 
XXI The History of a Conversion 
XXII The Persuading of Turkey . 
XXIII Egypt IN the Balance. . . 



206 
218 
227 
236 
245 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
Ferdinand I. or Bulgaria Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

Sultan Abdul Hamid 8 

Sultan Mohammed V 40 

Sultan Hussein Kemal OF Egypt 114 

Khedive Abbas HiLMi 118 

Carol I. of Roumania 130 

Ferdinand I. of Roumania 136 

Peter I. of Servia . 180 

Prince George of Servia ........ 184 

Crown Prince Alexander of Servia . . . . „ 188 

Constantin I. of Greece 200V 

George I. of Greece 204 

Nicholas I. OF Montenegro 210 



IS 



THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 



THE NEAR EAST FROM 
WITHIN 

CHAPTER I 

SULTAN ABDUL HAMID: HIS PERSONALITY AND 
POLICY 

IN my goings to and fro among the cities of 
Europe it was my lot to visit Constantinople 
on several occasions. The first time was in 
1888, and by good fortune I saw Abdul Hamid the 
very next day after my arrival — one Friday — dur- 
ing his weekly visit to the Mosque. Certain friends 
of mine secured for me a place whence I could see 
this ceremony of the Selamlik, as the procession 
of the Sultan is called. 

Promptly at the arranged hour we arrived at 
the little landing-place of Beshiktash, close by the 
mosque of the same name. This landing-stage is 
quite small, but has the advantage of being near to 
Yildiz Kiosk, the home of the Sultan. We were 
received by a master of ceremonies, who placed at 
our disposal a private room, forming part of a 
guard-house. From this vantage-point we could 
see the procession as it defiled past our windows 
into the square which fronts the mosque. 



2 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

It was a pompous sight, not devoid of quaint- 
ness, but far less Oriental than I had been led to 
imagine. The Sultan himself was riding a white 
horse harnessed in Eastern style, but he was so 
surrounded by eunuchs, guards, and high officials 
that I could scarcely catch a glimpse of his impas- 
sive, dark face. As he was leaving the mosque, 
however, I had better fortune. He stood for a few 
minutes on its threshold, gazing at the troops which 
marched before him with an earnest, severe ex- 
pression in his eyes that irresistibly attracted my 
attention. 

Abdul Hamid did not impress me as either pre- 
possessing or imposing, for his figure was bent and 
there was little regality in his countenance. But 
for all that, his was one of those faces that can- 
not fail to seize upon the imagination. There was 
such a sense of power, such a conviction of an un- 
limited right of life and death over those who sur- 
rounded him, that even strangers unaware of his 
identity seldom mistook him for anyone else than 
the Sultan. 

It has often been said that Abdul Hamid was 
a tyrant. I do not believe it. He lacked the back- 
bone of a tyrant. He could be guilty of surpassing 
cruelty, but more from the continually haunting 
fear of assassination than from inherent wicked- 
ness. 

His early impressions had been utterly sad, and 
the first years of his life — spent, as they had been. 



AMONG THE PEROTES 3 

in semi-imprisonment — ^had made him naturally dis- 
trustful of everybody and everything. 

I learned more of the Sultan's earlier history 
from^ my circle, some of whom had spent many 
years in Per a. Pera is that part of the city in 
which the embassies are situated, and where the 
foreign population find habitation as distinct from 
the native Turks, who congregate in and about 
Stamboul, on the other side of the Golden Horn. 
For some ethnological reason, as if Constantinople 
were off the map of Europe, Pera is called the Eu- 
ropean quarter — the Christian quarter would be 
more correct. 

In the pleasant days of my first visit, while idling 
in Perean drawing-rooms, or sight-seeing in Stam- 
boul or Galata, or venturing across the Bosphorus 
to explore Scutari, many things were told me about 
Abdul. My own observation, too, on this and the 
only other visit I paid to the Sublime Porte in his 
reign gave me added insight into Abdul's character. 

When he became Sultan he early became obsessed 
with the idea that it was necessary to resort to any 
measures, however questionable, to keep his throne. 
Though his education had been neglected, he had 
considerable natural intelligence, with which he 
combined a cunning such as the East alone can 
produce. 

He was a clever politician, but he had neither 
patriotic nor noble instincts. He gave one the im- 
pression that the fate of Turkey was a matter of 
profound indifference to him beside that of his own 



4 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

future. Abdul well knew that the security of his 
throne depended on the position his country would 
be able to maintain, as well as on the measure of 
its development amid the various intrigues that per- 
meated every aspect of life in the Ottoman Empire. 

Above everything else, so one who for years was 
in the confidence of the Sultan told me, he would 
have preferred a quiet life in the privacy of his 
harem. That he could not do so proved a source 
of continual dissatisfaction and sorrow, but never- 
theless it was not idle regret ; rather, it caused him 
to give considerable attention to European affairs. 
Events showed very clearly to those behind the 
scenes how ingeniously he contrived to arrange 
things in such a way that his alliance and co-opera- 
tion came to be sought after. Abdul Hamid was 
clever enough to see what really lay under many 
of the protestations of friendship about which he 
heard so much from certain European Powers. He 
realised that such attempts to approach him or to 
obtain his help proceeded rather from the desire to 
win an advantage of some kind than from the wish 
to cultivate good relations with him or with his 
government. 

With this reeling in his mind, Abdul adjusted 
his actions accordingly, and treated any advances 
with a craftiness that ended in his being distrusted 
by nearly every European Power and despised by 
every European Sovereign almost without excep- 
tion. 

At the same time, by the mere fact of his occupa- 



ABDUL, AN ENIGMA 5 

tion of the throne of Mahmoud II. and of the great 
Suleiman, he was one of the most important royal 
personages of the Continent. This factor was one 
apt to be lost sight of, the more easily because there 
existed the feeling that his tenancy of the throne 
would be short. Abdul Hamid himself, to a high 
degree, shared the feeling that he was destined to 
be overthrown by a palace revolution of the kind 
which had hurled his predecessors from the throne 
into a prison whence they never more emerged 
alive. He knew that stability was the one thing 
which he lacked, and so he thought he could replace 
it by tyranny. He failed to realise that tyranny 
also breeds revolution. 

To me, and probably to most other people, Abdul 
Hamid was an enigma. His character was truly 
Oriental, as I had reason to experience personally, 
and not the least of his mannerisms was his con- 
sistent concealment of his true thoughts. Few 
even among the people who saw him daily and in 
whom he appeared — outwardly, at least — ^to con- 
fide, ever guessed what was really in his mind. He 
carried this quality so far that he succeeded in hid- 
ing from everyone the fact that he knew the French 
language to perfection. 

In this way Abdul Hamid was able later on to 
pretend that what foreign ambassadors told him 
had not been properly interpreted, or, again, that 
he had not grasped the proper meaning of com- 
munications made to him. 

This fact is one of far more importance in the 



^ THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

turnings of Fate than at first becomes apparent 
Not unlikely Europe would have been spared vexa^ 
tiQUS_or even bloody complications had not the wiR^ 
ne^g of Abdul in^ this direction led htm t6 isedldi^jfe 
with.higjown pel^rdv I had it from the lips of 
Baron Marschall von Bieberstein himself that> so 
far as he knew, the only person who perceived the 
deception was the Emperor William II., who, whiM 
on hi$; yi$it to Constantinople, during an interview 
which: he had with the Sultan, suddenly sent away 
the interpreter, and then, turning on his difeeomfited 
host, bluntly told him that they had better discuss 
alone ; what they had to say^ l^ecause he knew veryr 
well that they could understand each other without 
apy. outside help>ri;o ;;^o:v: oj 'nC£CO-iq d.:^ ,:>;;i o i 

Abdul Harnidrwas ^oTtaken? :by3SuaTprise/that?iffi 
could not find words to deny the assertion, and iC© 
vi^asionly when the comversation: came to fan end that 
he, begged his guest not to reveal to others the secret 
he had penetrated. The reply was typical of the 
Emperor: "You: may rest quiet as to that point^^/ 
hfTsaMi: "uritriist fair^more to my i interest ; than: ta 
yOurs that the world should think you do not under'^ 
stand French, and that, in consequence, you iw^re 
unable to discuss politics with me." :;?rq;!i^l 

: I have mentioned the incident because it throws 
a certain light on subsequent events. The Comq 
mander of the Faithful and the all-powerful Kaiser 
had learned to gauge each other's strength and to 
realise that an alliance might in time bring about 
great events. But in this game the advantage re- 



' mained for a long while on- ihe -side ■ of Abd§l 
Hamid^ ■ wHo- knew to a nicety how to use his posi- 
tion - to advantage. He constantly played Germany 
against Russia and Russia agiinst England, aiid in 
"that 'f-^y obtained consider at)le loansi-^which:- -he 
us'ed for his personal extravagances 'more -b^ten 
than for his country's needs, " -.i ^-.i? ii. , 

' It is a tribute to his skill in pl^yifig th^'g^nie'of 
politics on the chessboard of Europe .that almost 
invariably we discovered that," ' Whenever' ' he ' wa^ 
threatened by a conspiracy at home or by aggres- 
sion from abroad, Abdul had cbritrived. that one or 
other of the greatPowers, should interfere on his 
behalf. , - ,-, j' ,- .- 

.;Lookmg backward ov|er. the,; reigp^i of; .:4bw 
Hamid, the conclusion of the historian would do|ibt- 
less be that Turkey had retained its political iniporr 
tance during "his, tenure of the throne, but had 
shown a palpable intellectual decline. .The Young 
Turk movement and initial impetus for. the ematiy 
cipation of .-women w;ere only elusive signs of prog- 
ress, and in reality meant little; in the way, o^^^^ 
tional enlightenment' .The police effectually barrel 
progress on the road oi GiyiUsation and af cultur^j 
Ambition was an .unknown quantity, because there 
was daily the. danger of : becoming a. victim of the 
secret police, whose sway was thernore:forhiidable 
in that it was the only institution in thei Ottoman 
Empire which could not be bought or sold, owing 
to- the^ fact that it ; was controlled etitirefy tiy- thie 



8 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Sultan, who reserved to himself the sole right to 
dispose of people who fell under his displeasure. 

Every morning the official in charge of this im- 
portant department reported at Yildiz Kiosk what 
had taken place in Constantinople during the pre- 
ceding twenty-four hours. Especially was this ac- 
tivity displayed in the foreign and diplomatic quar- 
ters, and also in regard to certain progressive Turk- 
ish families. The number of secret executions that 
took place during the reign is generally credited to 
be enormous ; quite often a man or woman suddenly 
vanished, after having gone out for a walk, or 
whilst making a call. Abdul Hamid believed that 
the best way to render his enemies harmless was to 
annihilate them at once. Before he came to the 
throne he had witnessed so many palace conspir- 
acies, been present at the discussion of so many 
plots against the Sovereign of the day, that perhaps 
it is not to be wondered that he always expected 
to find a foe lurking behind some curtain in order 
to assassinate him. 

The precautions with which the Sultan sur- 
rounded himself at Yildiz Kiosk were altogether 
extraordinary. Quite by chance one day I happened 
upon a jealously guarded secret, one which, I be- 
lieve, has never until now been made public. I refer 
to the curious fact that the head of his ser- 
vice of secret spies and bodyguards was a German 
ex-detective, whose mission it had been in previous 
years to watch over the safety of the Emperor Wil- 
liam I. The prophets have it that William II. rec- 




Abdul Hamid of Turkey 



MARSCHALL VON BIEBERSTEIN 9 

ommended him to Abdul Hamid during the visit to 
which I have already alluded. So long as that man 
remained at his post, not one of the many plots 
against the Sultan succeeded. This prince of secret 
agents died shortly before the culmination of the 
conspiracy which hurled Abdul from his throne. 

There is little doubt that when William II. paid 
his visit to Constantinople he hoped to persuade the 
Sultan to enter into an alliance with Germany. He 
did not succeed ; partly because he displayed far too 
much eagerness, thus giving the Turkish Govern- 
ment an inflated idea of its own influence since its 
co-operation was so pertinaciously sought by the 
monarch whom they believed to be the most power- 
ful in Europe. Another element in the failure of 
William II. was that Abdul Hamid wisely inferred 
that it might be more profitable to see whether he 
could not secure better conditions elsewhere. 

It was most amusing to watch the details of this 
game of diplomatic chess. By thus playing off one 
embassy against another, the Ottoman monarch 
gained years of quietness, and in a certain degree 
afforded greater facilities for expansion and de- 
velopment to his people than he could have done 
under different conditions. When the Serbs or Bul- 
garians annoyed the Turkish Empire, when Eng- 
land clamoured for some concession of a commer- 
cial nature, when Russia threatened an invasion of 
Asia Minor, the Sultan sent for the particular am- 
bassador accredited at his Court, and contrived to 
smooth over the difficulty which had arisen, mostly 



lo THE ^EAR:^AST FROM WITHIN 

byr promising senletlimgr If- matters l^came iies- 
perate,:;He appealfedlto fei^- good friend WilliamTl., 
who seemed to think it his- imperative <iuty feo^atGh. 
o-^ser^the: weMa^e^f the T^urkv:;; hbijIjjS sfitjsms^s 
:In- the meantime minor matters-^^f^ at ,kast,- 
what ;'in; the eyes of Abdul were: of minor impor-) 
tahcj^-^such as the concession :of the Bagdad Rsfil- 
way,5bffierfijgr£tnJted fe):,the:enterpi;ising .Teutons ;; 
And morer-vaTuahle; still, :the Gierm^n: Amhassaidori: 
Baron - Marschall : YOn Bieberstein> : c^mtriyed: iMi 
gain the eonfidehce of Abdjul Hamidjr-and fondly.; 
heHeved that ittereby he had established himseM as; 
the- paramount voice in- hisicouncilsv : [jBiaqo-oo 
- Baron Marschali von Biieberstein was perhaps; 
the one man in the;whole world who was: absolutely 
instructed as to the real "aiMs of the policy purstied^ 
byi William 'H.^^ and:;! ^ha^^e-always; held :the opinioi^j 
that it was: partly upon his advice that th^ Empei^or, 
adopted : the :attitude toward the world at, large 
which SQ : success f uljy led . cpeople : .astray, iM d<h r fe 
ultimate: :objectw:.iiO sdl ,~f>fitorfr> izniByiB YasBffr;:) 
doQht^xi insinuating in, spite of his gruff manners; 
and tove for plain-speaking, Baron von Marsehall 
was.the most profound student of human nature it 
has'ever beeS my fortune to meet.: He could gauge 
the rtiorall and intellectuali wotth c)f ; a man fwith wn- 
erritig accuracy after only a few moments'- eonverri 
sation; with him.: He had fathomed at; once the cow- 
ardice,: barbarity, and Eastern cunning which mad^ 
up Ihefreal Abdul Harrtid.i He . understood admir4 
ably how to- play "upon these qualities as occasion 



■ ' H r ^ MAN OF PASSlCmS^ 3HT ^\ 

required. More than that, he had managed to se- 
Gure secret allies in the very precincts of Yiidiz 
Kio^k. I will not say that the representatives; of 
e>!hef Powers had ^t' afed' succeeded iiiseeiiririg 
ftkereSted- influencie - aiid sources df private itif or^ 
mUtil)n i4hd advice, but it always seetned td'me that 
in this respect the Baron had outdistahced other 
diplomatic workers. Thel'e WaLs not ^dnly the police 
agTetit-M Whdm I have already spoken j but dlsd- the 
chief- €tinuch, and; too, a favourite slave' o^ the 
Padishah, a Christian girl who had unbounded in- 
fluence over him, principally on accduiit of the en- 
^ty-'Wiih^ Which the other inhabitants of the hareM 
reo'arded heri'^-^j isinij ^rd-Anu'Y bijjofia .iBfil >lmri3 ot 
- -The mention of tliis' Wmafi-tefftpts^ rne 'to dwell 
upon the undoubted fact that in the Qttdman Em^ 
pire political exigencies are at the ^hercy of "th^ 
irief fesi inddeftt arid sWa;f ed ^tdo ofteH by ^ the inner 
Gii'i^renls^ ol Turkish life Which" are, aiid will lori^ 
r^rhaiin,' impenetrable mysteries to the foreigner^- '! 
' - Apart from his love of money, Abdul Hamid had 
nd^dther- great passions. Sensual like all Orieiitals, 
he ^idCnbt- care- f of- '^Wdmeh beyond the Mutal satis- 
faction Which he derived from their possessidn. 
Love was unknown to him, and yet he fell under 
the influence of the woman just refierred to, who 
contrived to worm herself into his entire confidence' 
aitdtd^ become his associate in maiiy plans and many 
designs. Well educated, exceedingly clever and iti- 
triguing, this Christian woman whom circurn- 
sta^nces had thrown into the Imperial Harem was 



12 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

but too glad to take part in a political conspiracy 
of magnitude. Up to a certain point she became 
a pawn in the diplomatic game played by Baron 
Marschall von Bieberstein, being in some measure 
associated with him in the attempts which he made 
to secure Abdul Hamid's acquiescence in the plans 
of the Emperor William 11. 

To a man of the perception of Baron von Mar- 
schall it was not difficult to discover what a precious 
ally this woman could be. For the purpose of this 
narrative we will call her Amina. Bieberstein flat- 
tered her, made her lavish presents, flashed brilliant 
prospects before her eyes, and even allowed Amina 
to think that, should Turkey enter thoroughly into 
the plans of Germany, she would find herself 
strongly supported in her ambition to be recognised 
as the only legitimate wife of Abdul Hamid. 

Other diplomats had attempted to approach her; 
among others. Count Corti, who for a good many 
years held the post of Italian Ambassador at Con- 
stantinople, and who had been the first to realise 
the power of the harem to decide the most mo- 
mentous questions. All the efiforts of these gentle- 
men failed utterly ; Amina refused to listen to them. 
Baron von Marschall's tactics were dififerent: he 
first discovered who were the Turkish ladies ad- 
mitted to the intimacy of the harem, and induced 
one of them to represent him as an admirer of 
Amina. Then one day he arranged matters so that 
he found himself in the bazaar bargaining over 
some carpets and turquoises, at the same moment 



THE ETERNAL FEMININE 13 

as the Sultan's favourite. A liberal baksheesh dis- 
tributed to the eunuchs who accompanied Amina, 
and to the Persian in whose shop they were per- 
mitted to remain alone for a few minutes, he forth- 
with told the young inmate of the Imperial Harem 
that he had heard so much about her that he felt 
sure she would respond to his appeal and use her 
influence over the Sultan, which he knew was great, 
to induce Abdul to accept certain promises which 
emanated from Berlin. 

The recital — told me with every evidence of truth 
and borne out by circumstances within my own 
knowledge — continues that he pictured the brilliant 
results that would accrue, the power that would be- 
come Abdul's, and incidentally Amina's, if they 
allowed his master William II. to help Turkey re- 
establish once more the wide sway of Mohammed- 
anism. Amina fell into the snare, and hencefor- 
ward Germany secured a powerful ally in the im- 
mediate surroundings of the Sultan, one who, too, 
kept von Marschall regularly informed of what was 
asked of the Sultan and of what he planned to do. 
Through the knowledge so gained the German dip- 
lomat was able to win Abdul Hamid over to his 
opinion or to secure his endorsement of some secret 
action the Baron had received instructions from 
Berlin to recommend. 

These private messages emanated, not from the 
Foreign Office, but from the Emperor William him- 
self in holograph letters which were forwarded by 
special messengers. On one occasion, when a com- 



:14 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

mtmication of mo:ce than usual moment had arrived-, 
Abdul Hamidj persuaded by Amina, consented to 
receive Baron Marsehall von Bieberstein in the dead 
of the night. This confidential interview leid- t?0 
gr^at things,: because from that day Gfertnai^y' 'be- 
came a palpable factor in;- Turkish p(9iliti^§ ai^'d * ad^ 
ministration. - ''q>p: -irl --i; bno::-^"'-: ;:.-:^>;; ?ri;: ^lUc 
ieFov <s. number oolf "^edrs .C^iaiirGeMian-Mfit^f^ 
officers had been /-'onieavip:"' in Cohstantinople; = Ih 
this way, in 1883, von der Goltz laid the -foiSMMiOft 
of the work with which in later years his' rfa'nie was 
to be associated— the remodelling on German lines 
of the Ottorrian army. Various missions also had 
been to and fro. It; was noticeable, ho#ever,t:hM 
after the appointment of Baron von Marschall less 
secrecy attached io German Operations, that-the re- 
eirganisation of the Turkish army under Ihe aus- 
pices :otf ibfficers"^of Teutonic origin wa.§ -conducted 
withe greater zeal, and wais tsubmitted M^With 'less 
reluctance by the Mohariiniedan coriirnahder'^.^^ '-*'-'- 
. /When this work of training the army after 'Eu- 
ropean methods was first undertaken by Germany 
it Jisvas^icarried ' out' ^ with indifferent - siieCe^si ' The 
German officers were not enamoured of their task, 
and allowed- their impatience, if not coriteriipt, of 
Moslem soldiers to be seen. '■ Oh the other hand, ■ or 
perhaps as a result of this attitude; the rdrik antd 
ffie oi the Turkish army -proved distinctly hostile 
to i European discipline. The whole problem waS 
beset with ; difiiculty. The Turks of that day itb- 
sented being commanded by a Christian officer^. 



X I U XOST.:OPFORTUNITIES 15 

Moslems did not believe in European tactics, and. 
the; Turkish military teasers did not relish being 
ordered about by a newcomer and a foreigner r:?it- 
that.:3 3bhf :>lqommnj>[ioJ ^.r> vji:-,nqBa aai£8 

When the war with Gf eece took place" it was seen, • 
however, that German influence had given tlie; 
Turkish army a power previously lacking. Neyr^nii 
tfodessnthe larmy complained; that the; so-tcalledrfjcft^. 
f-ornis :had not given them a ; speedier' .a^d- ea^ier3 
victory. :i:j'i.oiiqc^:^S. 3;it r:o -^nl 

V As wasito' he expected; too^ fetllpthj^ ii^^:^Et0M^Q 
and England cbntinually combated Ihc: activity rGE|[ 
the German military riiissiiDn through^theit respeetrj 
ive ambassadors ; arid, what with onei thing and an-, 
other, the great Teutonic effort to capture a donii-; 
nating influence in Turkey seemed to ^ollapse jntp; 
insigniffcance, though I; must say that England sh;Ut. 
her eyes persistently to the .state ro f affairs and was^ 
singularly apathetie ;^vtsi:i at tjie i moment tier : gr^at- 
opportunity arose.O r:;;; ' --.h ; : ::r :-:>:ir rl 

- The inner reason for this decline , of . Tetftoni^- ] inn 
fluence was: that thfe German mission had never beeni 
properly supported by Abdul Hamid, ;wHo at that- 
timd was in reality still hesitating as to which, sid^: 
he ought to take. : There was a moment vvhen -it; 
would have been , easy to bring him under French, 
influenceylhufc Russia either did not understaitd-i^^ 
else would: not accept the hints which were made^to 
her to declare herself openly as antagonistic to Ger- 
man influence. At the period to which, I ref er :the- 
Franeo-Russian alliance was still ifi;;i$Sp,i^:|an?yv 



i6 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Count de Montebello, the French Ambassador at 
Petrograd — or Petersburg as it was then — who, 
from the fact that he had been for some years in the 
same capacity at Constantinople, had a wide expe- 
rience of both Turkey and the Sultan, did not attach 
sufficient importance to the possibility of German 
influence becoming paramount in the councils of 
Abdul. He therefore treated with indifference the 
efforts made by William II. to acquire a solid foot- 
ing on the Bosphorus. 

This capital mistake of a man who ought to have 
known better led ultimately to the loss of French 
prestige in Turkey, whilst the successive British 
Ambassadors in that country did not perceive the 
gradual weakening of the significance to the Turk 
of English power and England's position as the 
greatest Moslem monarchy in the world. Though 
at the time being it was not recognised, this fact 
was to have appalling consequences. 

In those distant days, when Germany was first 
putting forth her efforts to get Turkey under her 
influence, many people wondered at the persistent 
interest which the German Emperor took in all mat- 
ters concerning the military development of Tur- 
key. Not a few wondered what induced him to 
show himself so well disposed toward a nation 
which was evidently in the last stage of decay. 

One day, after my return from Constantinople, 
I was at a diplomatic social gathering — those con- 
venient events where one can make arrangements 
without a prying world wondering why So-and-so 



"MEDDLING ENGLAND" 17 

called upon another So-and-so — ^when a certain 

Princess L exchanged confidences with me. I 

told her much of Constantinople and its intrigues 
— much that did not matter, and she responded with 
vivacious gossip of the same calibre. But some of 
her words I have never forgotten, because they an- 
swered a question which had long been in my mind. 

I had ventured to comment upon the mystery of 
the friendship that was becoming apparent with 
Turkey, when the Princess, with a laugh, said that 
I was trying to throw dust in her eyes, but that it 
was of no use, for she herself had heard the Em- 
peror tell her husband that he was not an admirer 
of the Sultan, but he was the one man in the 
world who would prove the most useful to Ger- 
many later on. 

He explained, continued Princess L , that 

"Germany has far too many enemies for me to feel 
quiet respecting the years to come. Our naval su- 
premacy is disputed by England as well as by 
France, and our uncle Edward, whenever he be- 
comes King, which let us hope will not be so soon, 
will try his best to excite our enemies against us. 
Under these circumstances it would be to our ad- 
vantage to have Turkey on our side, if only on ac- 
count of the diversion which she might be induced 
to make by an incursion into Egypt, which she 
would give much to snatch from under the Eng- 
lish yoke. This would keep meddling England oc- 
cupied, and after all this is what we want. If you 
think over all this you will then perhaps share my 



18 THE NEAE- EAST FRQMJWiTHIN 

^pitiibn ^hat the- Stiltanasi well lasiitheT.WielfajreilBf 
^wtk^' ^^anriot^^rebiain^ ihdMerent ter tneJ'.'£3onh^ 
-SiXt Was at this juncture that Baron Marschall ^\^oti 
Biebefstein was appointed to Gonstantihople in Ocr- 
tbbfer, 1897. Many people saw a signi^cance in the 
fact - that the ex-Secretary for Foreign AfTaii^^ 
shbtild take this' diplomatic -^ost -so s0oii,-lit!tt' t#G 
hionths '^-fter the -signing of the Franeo-fe.ussian 
'Agreement, and were satisfied that it was a cburiter 
"rtiQve to any possible revival of Russian influence 
at the S'utlime Porte which the Tsar might feel in- 
cline(| to kttemp't itibW ^tilat; h'6 had the possibility' of 
Freneli'aid/"'' ^""''Z'' ^^"^ b::...-:.K^ ■^.:1 ..: -lo^q 

' " ' Iti'sendihg" von 'MarschalT to CoilisfSfitltiopie thfe 
German Emperor evinced his discernment. The iri- 
fluence^ of the new ambassador was. not long in 
imaking itself manifest in an improved feeling. ■ He 
was not looked upon with favour at Yildiz during 
tiae ftrst days of histenure of the embassy, but he 
Speedily , caused Abdul to change his attitude, in 
>yhicb he was aided by assurances from Berlin that 
he was„ as it..wei:e?..a-very fine fellow indeed. . /Once 
Jhe had removed Abdul's aloofness, the .Baron 
squglit to gain a friendly footing, and cast about 
[him: to discover pexsons likely to be amenable to 
■.suggestions of reciprocation for aiding .him in his 
-desire.. ,i; ^ , '371- ^^;.•■ -/ 

- One of the outcomes of this delicate inquiry was 
rvon Marschall's friendliness with Amina, which 
was brought about in the manner already, related, 



>; i H Ai WARNING TO RUSSIA 19 

and Was an asset of cpnsiderable ¥altie inihis diplo' 
matie intrigues. ■:h>v,s ^oriDlsd vch^l -cv/ 3i/j^Bn 
: Jiust prior to the deposition of Abdul H amid this 
tool of the German Ambassador was; the heroine 
of an exciting adventure, in which one of the Ger-^ 
man Emperor's personal letters narrowly escaped 
falling into the hands of the last persons William 
IIj-wQuld have wished ^toj;leaitfi its icontents. ;Ili 
wmld undoubtedly have been discovered by the 
Young Turks had it not been for the presence of 
mind of Amina, who hastily seized it from under 
the cushion where it had been hidden, and managed 
tOothrew it into aifire at the very moment the door' 
of the sleeping apartment which she shared with 
Abdul Hamid was being forced. Later on she con-' 
trived to have William II. apprised of what she had. 
do;ie^ and Wjas handsomely rewarded for her prompt 
actionn93v/j3d 3no >ii53'id ^i&i^ .i-^-i^ ^if^ 

-.It would, indeed, have been most awkward for' 
the German Emperor had the contents of this letter' 
been revealed, because it would have stood in direct 
opposition to some negotiations which he had un^I 
dertaken against Abdul Hamid, who had so long^ 
persisted in the vacillating attitude which he had 
believed to be so clever that at last William II. had: 
found put that he was being made a fool of. Therie-^^ 
upon he turned toward the Young Turk party, in 
whom he had thought it likely he would find more 
honest allies. 

At that precise moment the subterranean activi- 
ties of Baron von Marschall, who had all along 



20 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

warned the Sultan that a conspiracy of a formidable 
nature was being hatched against him, had drawn 
the attention of a very intelligent Serb. This man 
himself had played a part of no little importance in 
the political disturbances of his own country. But 
this by the way; to return, he had seen through 
Bieberstein's diplomacy, and, returning from Tur- 
key, had warned the Russian Government of the 
German intrigues that were going on at Constanti- 
nople. He argued that the ultimate issue of these 
undercurrents was the conclusion of a defensive 
and offensive alliance between Germany and the 
Ottoman Empire. The great bait for the Sultan 
was that thereby he might regain Egypt and Ba- 
toum, together with the fortress of Kars in Ar- 
menia. William II., on his part, professed to be 
satisfied by the certainty that, with the Sultan as 
his ally, should ever war break out between Ger- 
many and Russia, the latter would find her com- 
merce in the Black Sea paralysed. 

The Servian politician to whom I have referred 
had seen through that game, but, unfortunately, his 
warning to Petersburg had been disregarded. He 
was treated as a visionary who took for reality the 
product of a disordered imagination. For the Ger- 
mans it was a good stroke of destiny that the one 
man who guessed the real nature of the aim pur- 
sued by William II. had been treated as a madman. 
Meanwhile German propaganda at the Sublime 
Porte was temporarily obscured, while other po- 
litical events engrossed the attention of the worlds 



THE YOUNG TURKS 21 

and gradually Turkey came to be considered as a 
dangerous element only on account of possible com- 
plications which the development of those different 
Slav States she had persecuted in long bygone ages \ 
might precipitate. Her fate seemed to be sealed, 
financially at least, and her enemies looked upon 
the final disintegration of the Ottoman Empire as a 
foregone conclusion. 

In the meantime, unknown to all but the few 
prime movers, the reorganisation of her different 
institutions had begun, and Turkey was given to 
understand that if only she persevered in improv- 
ing her military power she might yet prove in time 
a formidable surprise to those who had already dis- 
counted her death and disappearance from the po- 
litical arena. 

In saying that this was done in such secrecy that 
the world did not suspect, I am not quite correct. 
A small circle in Turkey guessed that something 
important was going on. 

Out of this nebulous feeling of unrest the Young 
Turk party sprang into vigorous life. It had ex- 
isted for years in a less formidable way and con- 
ducted a well-concealed campaign for the introduc- 
tion under its aegis of truly progressive methods of 
government. Before long the party had some of 
the most important political men in the country on 
its side, and the movement was viewed with sym- 
pathy among all ranks of the army. Abdul's tenure 
of the throne was not opposed, but the corrupt ad- 
ministration; indeed, at one moment it was pro- 



22 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

jected to induce the Sultan to lead the Constitu- 
tional party to final triumph. Abdul Hamid, how- 
ever, was not the man to accept such a situation, 
and very soon the energy with which he tried to 
break the power of the Committee of Union and 
Progress, as the Young Turks called their execu- 
tive, made him more enemies than ever. 

Things were in this condition of seething unrest 
in Constantinople when Enver Bey sprang into 
prominence. An incident about which I shall have 
something to say later on had made him acquainted 
with Baron von Marschall, who very quickly recog- 
nised the ambition that lay lurking behind the smile 
of this future hero of one of the most important 
revolutions of modern times. The Baron soon in- 
vited the Bey to his house and made friends with 
him, inducing him to talk about the feelings nour- 
ished among the army in regard to the Sultan. 
When he ascertained that a strong party existed 
who wished to get rid of Abdul Hamid, he asked 
Enver Bey quite brusquely whether he would not 
undertake to head a revolution tending to dispossess 
the Sultan of a crown which he was wearing 
neither with dignity nor with valour. 

Enver Bey was no fool, and at first turned a deaf 
ear to the German Ambassador. Curiously enough, 
while Enver was debating what course to adopt, it 
got to Hamid's ears that he was promoting another 
conspiracy against the life of the Sultan. 

Abdul Hamid lost no time in acting, and on the 
strength of the advice tendered to him he ordered 



ABDUL'S BIG MISTAKE 23 

the arrest of Enver Bey. Enver, however, had been 
warned of his impending fate by none other than 
Baron von Marschall himself, who evidently be- 
lieved it wise to have friends everywhere. Enver 
Bey evaded arrest, but the road to further dignities 
and honour was thereby closed. He was dismissed 
from his regiment and condemned to death. Such 
treatment was bitterly resented by Enver Bey as 
no reason for the degradation was given, and he 
never learned that his downfall was through the 
false accusation of conspiracy conveyed through 
Amina to the Sultan. He thereafter nourished in 
his heart a slumbering feeling of vindictive ani- 
mosity which only needed the opportunity to burst 
forth into active operation against his Sovereign. 
From his retreat in Asia Minor he plotted with 
friends in Constantinople, of whom he had plenty, 
to enter into a real conspiracy against Abdul 
Hamid, whom it was at first intended to put to 
death without further ceremony. 

I know personally, however, that Baron von Mar- 
schall, who had been kept faithfully informed of 
all that was going on, demurred to this. The life 
of the Sultan was to be spared, and on no account 
was he to be molested beyond the fact of his deposi- 
tion. The orders of the Emperor William were 
precise as to this point, and only on that condition 
the Baron consented to furnish the conspirators 
with the money they required to put into execution 
their intentions. He was quite willing to dispossess 
Abdul Hamid of his throne, but he did not intend 



24 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

to lose him as an important trump in the game 
which he knew his master was playing. 

The revolution took place, but not before Amina 
had been secretly warned to put aside whatever ob- 
jects of value, such as money and jewels, which she 
possessed, all of which were taken for safety to the 
German Embassy. 

The great mistake made by Abdul Hamid, and 
to which ultimately he owed his fall, was that he 
failed to perceive that Eastern cunning could not 
succeed for ever. He had become so unpopular in 
his own country and among his own subjects that 
he could no longer hope to hold his crown unless he 
resorted to some help from outside, and by his own 
shiftiness he had dammed the sources. With all his 
unmistakable political abilities he was but an 
Oriental despot. Unfortunately for him, the nation 
over which he ruled was tired of despots, though 
it might have felt contented under an absolute sov- 
ereign such as is referred to in the Koran and whom 
Islam had worshipped in past ages. Abdul had 
imagined that in order to consolidate his position 
he must inspire terror; but, instead of terror, he 
only secured the hatred and contempt of his people. 

His nature was a curious mixture of boldness of 
mind and conception, and fear at some unknown 
and dreadful fate which he ever felt was hovering 
over him and his race. Avaricious to an extent that 
has not been sufficiently appreciated, he hastened, 
as soon as he was warned by Baron Marschall von 
Bieberstein that a conspiracy was being hatched 



ARREST OF ABDUL HAMID 25 

against him, to put in a place of safety as much as 
he could of the treasures and money he had 
amassed, and to this day in two German banks con- 
siderable sums are lying to his credit about which 
few of those he trusts have any idea and which 
his enemies have so far failed to discover. It is a 
curiously illuminating insight into Eastern fatalism 
that he never thought of providing for his own 
safety beyond the precautions he generally em- 
ployed. Except that he never slept two consecutive 
nights in the same room, he changed none of his 
usual habits. He had been advised to fly to some 
place where he could be better guarded than was 
possible at Yildiz, but he had always refused. 

Sultan Abdul Hamid was cunning. He was not 
unaware of the bribery and corruption which per- 
meated official spheres, but in the secrecy of his 
heart he felt that on his own part he was not free 
from reproach in that respect. He remembered 
occasions when, for this or that concession, he too 
had accepted baksheesh, and a few millions had 
found their way into his pocket rather than into the 
coffers of the State. 

When the fall came and he was imprisoned at 
Salonika, the fact that he was so rich and that it 
was essential to lay hold of his well-concealed 
wealth assuredly preserved his life; otherwise he 
would have been killed as soon as he was taken 
prisoner. As it was, Abdul Hamid continued to 
snap his fingers at the revolutionaries who had 
robbed him of his throne. For years he kept them 



26 ,THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

on tenterhooks, doling out small bribes of a few 
thousands at a time, and never revealing the place 
v^^here he had hidden his many millions. In addi- 
tion to the two Berlin banks, he confided specie to 
an enormous amount to the keeping of the Emperor 
William 11. , who suggested the idea to him. The 
German Emperor holds the strings of Abdul 
Hamid's private purse; at any rate he did so till 
the war broke out, the interest on the money en- 
trusted to his care going regularly to the ex-Sul- 
tan, though no one has ever been able to discover 
the channel through which the operation is trans- 
acted. 

When the Young Turks made him prisoner, he 
did not offer the slightest resistance, but from his 
prison at Salonika, in spite of the rigorous way in 
which he was watched, he succeeded in maintain- 
ing communication with the outside world, notably 
with Berlin, and he followed with the utmost inter- 
est all that went on at Constantinople. He did not 
envy his successor; on the contrary, he remained 
upon good terms with him, as soon as he had real- 
ised that in time, if, indeed, he did not regain the 
throne which he had lost, he might at least be al- 
lowed to return to one of his palaces on the Bos- 
phorus, there to spend the rest of his days in the 
leisurely fashion so dear to Eastern hearts. He had 
no regret for the supreme power which he had lost. 
Indeed, he is possibly happier to-day than at any 
time during the years when millions of people trem- 
bled at his approach. 



A PAST WITHOUT REMORSE 27 

A new Sultan was elected, about whom I shall 
have something- to say later. He was a weak, 
timid man, kind-hearted, but without any will of his 
own. He was demoralised by years of semi-cap- 
tivity, in which his best faculties had been smoth- 
ered under the continual fear of assassination at 
the hands of his brother, who bore him a deep 
hatred. He felt more than surprised at his unex- 
pected elevation to the throne and absolutely unable 
to fight against the will of those who had brought 
him there. 

Under his reign Turkish politics, which had been 
controlled by the iron hand of Abdul Hamid, were 
left to the guidance of men without experience and 
without policy. It was not surprising, therefore, 
that the administration allowed itself to be brought 
under German influence, and became dependent on 
the will of the Emperor William II., until at last 
the treaty of alliance which he had long tried with- 
out success to bring about became an accomplished 
fact. Turkey then suddenly came forward as an 
important factor in a most serious situation. Where 
Marshal von der Goltz had failed. General Liman 
von Sanders was to succeed most brilliantly. 

On occasion, since his return to his former capi- 
tal, Abdul Hamid has given unasked advice to Mo- 
hammed v., the following of which Mehmed has 
never had cause to regret. It is said that Abdul 
had a good deal to do with the recent attitude 
adopted by the Turkish Government and with the 
declaration of war against the Allies. However 



28 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

that may be, it is more than certain that the rash 
act was strongly reminiscent of the German sym- 
pathies of Abdul Hamid. In his retreat of Bey- 
lerbey he sees more visitors than he is supposed to 
do, and I have been told that the Khedive Abbas 
Hilmi more than once appealed to his experience 
and sought advice from him. 

After having feigned illness and melancholy 
during the years which he spent in confinement 
at Salonika, he suddenly seemed to gather new 
strength, and it is said by some people that he now 
prepares himself for the possibility of having once 
more a powerful voice in the destinies of Europe. 
Aged though he is, he has lost none of his former 
activity of mind. The old fox secretly amuses him- 
self by watching the drama which he has helped to 
prepare, but for which he has contrived to avoid 
any responsibility. Whilst sipping his cup of cof- 
fee he remembers the past without remorse, and 
looks forward to the future with that perfect tran- 
quillity which only a saint or a confirmed criminal 
' can feel. 



CHAPTER II 

LIFE IN CONSTANTINOPLE 

MY first visit to the Near East was with 
the intention of seeing something of 
Asia Minor as well as of Constanti- 
nople. 

My first destination was Smyrna, but I was so 
entirely interested in the people of Constantinople 
that I did little else than remain in the city, study- 
ing its ways and learning a little — exceedingly lit- 
tle — of the intricate, not to say tortuous, mind of 
the Moslem. It is true I managed to make a short 
excursion to Brusa, but, apart from this, the rest of 
the month at my disposal I spent in the capital of 
the Turkish Empire. 

I had been given considerable information about 
the Perotes — the native inhabitants of the Euro- 
pean quarter of Pera — and had always been told 
that they exhibited a curious mingling of the habits 
of the Oriental with those of the European middle 
class. There is a certain amount of truth in this, 
but the description conveys to the mind of the 
stranger only a very weak picture of their curious 
and heterogeneous character. 

It is one of the unwritten laws of Pera, which 
are as unalterable as the dicta of the Medes and 

29 



30 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Persians, that everybody must know everybody else. 
One is not even allowed to acquire that knowledge 
gradually, but within an hour of one's arrival the 
new-comer is expected to get into contact with all 
who consider themselves to be the "right people." 
This expression ''right people" is one of the most 
frequently used phrases in Constantinople, and it is 
used with such lavishness that, nine times out of 
ten, it gets beyond the sublime and becomes ridic- 
ulous. For instance, a certain butcher belongs to 
the ''right people," yet there are Pashas against 
whom you brush daily who can lay no claim to that 
distinction, notwithstanding the fact that their 
breasts are covered with orders and that they oc- 
cupy in the military or civil hierarchy a very high 
place indeed. 

The Perotes, a name for which, by the way, they 
manifest an inordinate pride, are mostly half-castes, 
a mixture of Greek and Armenian blood, sprinkled 
here and there with descendants of more Western 
Europeans. Perote ladies may be amusing, espe- 
cially by their utter disregard of conventionality, 
but they are not entertaining. Their education is 
slender, and their conversation a mixture of slander 
combined with coarseness. They seldom read any- 
thing except French novels of a very low order, and 
newspapers of a similar grade, of which many exist 
throughout Turkey. They are perennially eager 
for knowledge as to the actions, thoughts, and gen- 
eral movements of the Turkish ladies whom they 
know and of the foreigners who happen to come to 



THE "RIGHT PEOPLE" 31 

gossip-loving Constantinople. The most reserved 
soon find, to their intense surprise and disgust, that 
secrecy is impossible in Pera; plans or intentions 
somehow become known to perfect strangers with 
incredible swiftness; privacy is beyond attainment. 
"Society" in the capital of Turkey is merely another 
name for petty espionage; one cannot go out of 
doors without being watched by a dozen people, 
who at once start speculating why one turned to 
the left when it would have been just as easy to 
go to the right. The progress of every steam or 
motor launch that plies on the Bosphorus is known, 
not so much by its particular shape as by its dis- 
tinguishing whistle, at the sound of which people 
rush to their windows to watch with eagerness and 
curiosity the boat's course. 

In Perote-land every new arrival is subjected to 
a curiosity which reaches a magnitude those who 
have not experienced it steadfastly refuse to believe. 
For instance, when I put in an appearance for the 
first time at the ball which takes place at the Grand 
Hotel of Therapia every Saturday, I was imme- 
diately pounced upon by a lady afflicted with two 
daughters, each of whom was just as much a char- 
acter as her mother. She started questioning me 
at once as to my reasons for visiting the Turkish 
capital. When I tried to assure her that I had been 
simply actuated by the desire to travel, and at the 
same time to visit friends at the German Embassy, 
she smiled in a mysterious way, and murmured, 
"Oh! You are discreet, like all gentlemen, but we 



32 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

know better. We have heard all about it." And 
when I attempted to assure her that there was noth- 
ing to hear about, she half-closed her eyes, and 
murmured, "It is no use your trying to be mys- 
terious; we all know that you have already been 
at Mrs. A.'s house, and," she added in a hushed, 
tragic tone, "we also know that you are a friend, 
an old friend, of hers!" 

I was aghast. The lady referred to was the wife 
of a colleague of mine, lately married. I had never 
seen the lady before my arrival at Constantinople, 
when her husband had introduced me to her. But 
when I tried to convey this information to my tor- 
mentor, she simply looked at me, and replied, "Oh, 
it is useless, believe me, quite useless, to deny what 
we all know so well. It is, of course, very nice of 
you, but then you cannot control your face, and it 
lights up whenever you look at Mrs. A.!" 

This last phrase proved too much for my out- 
raged feelings, and I fled hastily, seeking refuge 
by the side of the very friend with whose wife I 
had been accused of carrying on an intrigue. I 
asked him whether it was a usual occurrence in 
Constantinople society thus to be submitted to in- 
quisition as to one's past life. He laughed and told 
me that I would see and hear far more marvellous 
things before I had done with the delights of the 
Turkish capital. 

And I did see them, and very quickly came to the 
conclusion that Constantinople was a very nice place 
not to live in. I would have drowned myself in de- 



THE LURE OF THE ORIENT 33 

spair had I been obliged to spend anything hke a 
long time in it. At least, I thought so; but soon a 
curious, indolent, satisfied feeling took me in its em- 
brace. I began to understand the charms of an 
existence spent in idling among the roses and under 
the plane trees which give such a pleasant coolness 
to that wonderful spot. The general feeling of un- 
easiness which I had experienced passed away; I 
became used to the people, to their peculiarities, and 
to their utter disregard of what we call the conven- 
tions. I began also to understand something of the 
dreamy nature of the Orientals, and of that indif- 
ference of the Turk for everything that does not 
concern him personally, as well as his utter con- 
tempt of everything that is European. 

The wives and womenfolk of the Diplomatic 
Corps keep themselves very exclusive; they do not 
care to mix with the Perotes. With the exception 
of some bankers of high repute, Perotes are not 
admitted to entertainments at the embassies. I 
speak of the ladies, of course. The men, however, 
of the Diplomatic Corps, especially the bachelors, 
do not refuse to make excursions into that particu- 
lar world where one speaks such remarkable French 
and where Mrs. Grundy is unknown. Balls are 
given at Pera during the winter which are magnifi- 
cent and sumptuous affairs, and sometimes it hap- 
pens that politics come to be discussed at them, es- 
pecially when some Pasha or Minister honours the 
event with his presence, and meets by accident — or 



34 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

more often design — some foreign ambassador bid- 
den to the function. 

It was during one of these festivities, given at the 
house of a vi^ealthy Armenian, that the deposition 
of Abdul Hamid was finally decided upon. At an- 
other, the Bulgarian Minister whispered into the 
ear of his French colleague that great things were 
about to happen, and that very likely a few months 
more would see a Christian Emperor enter St. 
Sophia, and the Mohammedan monarch who was 
at that moment reigning in Constantinople ousted 
from his high place. 

Life in Turkey is always interesting, even in its 
moments of supreme idleness. One finds continu- 
ally something to see and something to observe or 
to admire, and to any student of human nature it 
affords sources of enjoyment such as he meets with 
nowhere else in the world. For one thing, it is so 
totally different from what one sees generally, and 
it is intermingled with so many remembrances of 
a great and warlike past, that it cannot fail to pro- 
duce a deep impression. Everything in the Otto- 
man Empire speaks about dead glories and buried 
heroes; of romances and love affairs intermingled 
with crime and murder, with women's tears and 
men's vengeances. 

In Constantinople, a walk round the old walls 
erected by Justinian takes one back to those days 
when Byzantium kept the world chained to her 
chariot. The slender, white minarets which rise at 
every corner, and meet the eye wherever one turns, 



DEAD GLORIES AND BURIED HEROES 35 

are full of sweet and dreadful memories ; they rise 
up on the clear horizon of Stamboul as if to defy- 
any conqueror to touch or to attempt to destroy 
their soft, sad beauty. 

In this landscape, different from any other, where 
cypress and myrtle abound, and where the roses 
bloom all the year round, one comes to look at 
things, as well as at men, in quite a different light. 
The Western European, used to brisk views of life, 
and energetic days, is not long a dweller on the 
banks of the Bosphorus ere he ceases to wonder at 
the indifference with which the Turk looks on at the 
slow dismemberment of the mighty Islamic Em- 
pire. In Turkey nothing matters but the life of 
the day. 

What struck me very much in this first sojourn 
in Constantinople was the attitude maintained by 
Turkish officials in regard to the social life of the 
European colony. One saw them sometimes sol- 
emnly attending the receptions given at the different 
embassies, and eating in stolid silence the dinners 
offered them by the influential people of Pera. They 
spoke but little, and even the mightiest among the 
many mighty Pashas who honoured these enter- 
tainments with their presence made a point of ap- 
pearing to ignore French or other languages, and of 
maintaining a studious silence as far as they could. 

I felt curious to know the reason for this re- 
straint on the part of people whom I had had oc- 
casion to meet privately, and so knew that they 
spoke English or French or even German with a 



36 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

certain fluency. I was told that it proceeded from 
fear of spies, who were expected to report all that 
they heard to the Sultan. This fear, imposed upon 
high Turkish functionaries by anxiety as to their 
personal welfare, had a restraining influence also 
on the gossip, and I have noticed that whenever a 
Turk happened to be in a Pera drawing-room con- 
versation became less personal and more charitable. 

Intrigue permeated the very atmosphere in Con- 
stantinople. In a land where most things were to 
be bought or sold, it is little wonder if strenuous 
efforts were made to snatch from the resources of 
the Empire every benefit that lay within reach. 
Everybody believed Turkey to be doomed to almost 
immediate dissolution; hence all hastened to seize 
the spoil. A relentless battle of wits was fought 
over every possible concession which could bring 
money to the lucky being who obtained it. Jewish 
bankers, French financiers, German capitalists, 
English engineers, Russian speculators were to be 
met at every turn. They filled the air with their 
vivid stories of the blessings which would accrue 
to the Turkish Empire if only its rulers consented 
to adopt one or other of the wild schemes which 
they unfolded before the eyes of those on whose 
permission their realisation depended. 

Baksheesh was the king before whom every head 
bowed, and baksheesh was far more respected than 
was the Sultan himself. I have often heard some- 
one say, "Does he know how to give a baksheesh?" 
just in the same tone which we would have em- 



BAKSHEESH, THE REAL RULER 37 

ployed had we asked, ''Have you found So-and-so 
at home?" 

Is it to be wondered at, therefore, if morality in 
Turkey seems so lax? Is it surprising that at the 
period of which I am writing no one in Europe be- 
lieved that the Ottoman Empire was capable of an 
effort strong enough to raise itself from the slough 
of despond into which it had fallen, and that those 
who arrived on the Bosphorus indulged in avari- 
cious dreams as to the ultimate fate of this beauti- 
ful region, for the possession of which so many 
ambitions had been fighting for centuries? 

That it could baffle all these intrigues, and assert 
itself once more as an independent power, no one 
credited save the Emperor William II., who alone 
had the foresight — or, maybe, wiliness — to work 
out this deed of regeneration, and to discover in 
weak, tottering Turkey an ally which, as he be- 
lieved, when trained by German officers, was ca- 
pable of fulfilling the important part that, thanks 
to untoward events, it was suddenly called upon to 
play. 



CHAPTER III 

SULTAN MOHAMMED V 

MY duties in connection with the embassy 
to which I was attached took me afar. 
I left Constantinople for a considerable 
time, returned again for a few months' stay in the 
latter half of 1908 and the opening months of the 
following year, and after another long interval 
found myself, for the third time, entrusted with a 
mission to Stamboul, during 19 13, in the closing 
days of the Balkan wars. 

To my astonishment Turkey was a changed coun- 
try. It had become appreciably more civilised, 
though in social life it had changed but little. The 
ladies in Pera still gossiped, shady financiers were 
still trying to obtain impossible concessions capable 
of taking in naive European shareholders; but the 
fabric of the nation itself had vastly improved. A 
certain spirit of independence had replaced the ab- 
ject submission prevalent during the reign of Ab- 
dul Hamid; varying political parties had sprung 
into existence, and were each struggling for no- 
toriety and predominance; a certain freedom of 
thought had established itself. The Turks seemed 
to me to have awakened to the knowledge that it 
was not too late to make an effort to become once 

38 



ABDUL AND MEHMED 39 

more a factor in European politics. The sense of 
inferiority which had pursued them ever since the 
days of Count Ignatieff, of San Stefano fame, had 
died out. 

It is undeniable that, in a powerful degree, this 
rejuvenation was due to the exertions of the Young 
Turk party, and especially to the personality of En- 
ver Bey (more recently a Pasha). He was the man 
of the hour. He had succeeded, some months ear- 
lier, in absorbing the public attention to an extent 
no Turkish statesman had ever done before. He 
was no politician, but simply a man with high, 
though hardly great, ambitions, who had spent some 
long time in Germany, and there had won for him- 
self the warm regard of the Emperor William II., 
who quickly discerned how useful a unit in his vast 
designs Enver could be. Enver knew this well 
enough, but preserved a characteristic impassivity, 
and meantime accorded to the new Sultan an out- 
ward humility and deference which cleverly con- 
cealed his inner feeling of utter contempt for Ab- 
dul Hamid's successor. 

To tell the truth, the very appearance of Moham- 
med V. — Mehmed Rechad Khan — the present 
ruler of the Ottoman Empire, suggests nonentity. 
Small and bent, with sunken eye and deeply lined 
face, an obesity savouring of disease, and a yellow, 
oily complexion, he certainly is not prepossessing. 
There is little of intelligence in his countenance, and 
he has never lost a hunted, frightened look as he 
surveys his surroundings, as if dreading to find an 



40 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

assassin lurking in some dark corner, ready to 
strike and kill. 

From the time of his birth to a few days before 
his accession, Mehmed had been kept in a state of 
semi-confinement, and subjected to most careful 
surveillance, in case he should attempt somethng 
that would endanger the safety of his reigning 
brother. 

Abdul Hamid hated him and despised him at the 
same time. He yet felt afraid to have him killed 
— ^perhaps because he imagined that a stronger and 
more ambitious man would take his place. Mehmed 
Rechad, although he was reported to be at the head 
of the conspiracy which overthrew the former Sul- 
tan, was in reality absolutely unaware it was in 
progress, for the simple reason that no one would 
have dared to trust him with a secret of such im- 
portance. The only time that plotters had tried to 
persuade him to head a movement of reform in the 
country, he had been so terrified at the mere idea 
that he hastened to acquaint Abdul Hamid with all 
details of the intrigue. 

During Abdul's tenure of the throne, Mehmed 
had been the object of cruel ill-treatment and the 
most unjust suspicions on the part of his brother. 
There was a time when he hardly dared to show 
himself in the streets of Constantinople. He never 
went to bed without wondering what might befall 
him during the night, and he carefully affected the 
mannerisms of an idiot in order to allay any appre- 




Mohammed V of Turkey 



MEDIHA SULTANE ^ 41 

hensions entertained as to his possible activity in 
political matters. 

Mehmed Rechad had received a better education 
than Abdul Hamid, and had been taught European 
languages, but he had not profited by the lessons 
which had been given to him, preferring to spend 
his time in his harem, whence he seldom emerged. 
Looking at him, one could not understand how it 
was possible that this timid little man was able to 
boast of an ancestry as determined as it had been 
illustrious. 

With all these defects, Mehmed Rechad was yet 
a patriot in his way. He felt vaguely that Turkey 
was in dire straits, but though he never imagined 
he could regenerate his country, yet he did not op- 
pose those who attempted the task. He would have 
preferred above everything that someone should 
succeed in rousing the Ottoman Empire, one who 
would be content to leave to Mehmed the credit and 
the profit resulting from the enterprise. He under- 
stood his personal shortcomings, but felt, neverthe- 
less, comfortable in their possession. He certainly 
would have been entirely sorry to reform either his 
position, his character, his moral outlook, or any- 
thing in his way of life. He was proud, too, in his 
way: proud of his people, perhaps even more than 
of his rank or of his riches, or of the power he was 
supposed to wield from the day he put on the sword 
of Osman at the Mosque of Eyoub. 

When the messengers came to tell him that he 
was Sultan, he at first refused to believe it ; his next 



42 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

thought was one of extreme solicitude as to the fate 
of his brother, respecting whom he kept asking for 
news and for assurances as to his safety. It is even 
reported that before Abdul Hamid had been taken 
away from Constantinople, Mehmed Rechad had 
been to see him secretly, and had begged his pardon 
for having usurped his place, assuring him that it 
had not been his fault that this had occurred. To 
this, it seems, wise and cunning Abdul Hamid had 
replied that his day was not over yet, and that the 
time would come when his brother and successor 
would be only too glad to have the benefit of his 
advice. 

It seems that when the Council of Ministers 
heard about the visit, they censured Mehmed 
Rechad severely for taking such a step; they even 
threatened him with removal and imprisonment, 
which sent him into a state of panic. 

Had Rechad been left to himself, he would prob- 
ably have refused the diadem of Islam, but the iron 
will of one of his sisters, the lovely Mediha Sul- 
tane, proved too strong for him. This Turkish 
Princess was one of the first women in Constanti- 
nople to adopt European ways and manners, and to 
preach female emancipation to her sisters in faith 
and in misfortune. Married when quite young to 
one Damad Nedjib Pasha, she drank to the dregs 
the cup of humiliation which every Turkish girl is 
compelled to taste when she becomes wedded to a 
man she has never seen before her wedding-day. 

Damad Nedjib was ambitious, and had imagined 



MARSCHALL AND MEDIHA 43 

that his marriage with a sister of the Padishah 
would ensure him honours and dignities. But the 
shrewd Abdul Hamid knew him very well, and ap- 
preciated him still better. He had given him his 
sister in order to win him over, but he did not 
hasten to give Damad Ned jib the important place 
to which he considered himself entitled. Disap- 
pointed in his ambitions, Damad started out to 
thwart the Sultan with a recklessness that would 
certainly have ended in trouble with anyone else 
than Abdul Hamid, who was far too clever to show 
his irritation. He managed, instead, to have it con- 
veyed to his brother-in-law that the only bar to his 
progress was his wife, who, according to the in- 
sidious whisperer, was doing her utmost to put ob- 
stacles in his way. 

Damad Nedjib believed this tale of his wife's 
hate and intrigue, and, rumour says, ill-treated her 
barbarously. Her friends were indignant, she was 
furious. Not many weeks later, after having drunk 
a cup of coffee, her husband fell ill and died. She 
did not mourn him long, and in a few months mar- 
ried the man who had been in the possession of her 
affections for a considerable time. 

Damad Ferid Pasha Bouchati, her second hus- 
band, was of Greek origin. He had rather ad- 
vanced ideas as to the social standing of women, 
due doubtless to his travels in many lands. Mediha 
Sultane opened her doors to friends, and started a 
vigorous propaganda for female emancipation. The 
great influence of her husband supported the move- 



44 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

ment, which has lately become prominent in Turkey. 

For some years Mediha Sultane was a leader in 
Constantinople, until at last the Sultan began to 
entertain suspicions that his sister's popularity had 
awakened within her ambitions which were inimical 
to his future. The result was that Abdul Hamid, 
who was never a man to stick at trifles, sought a 
plan to rid himself of his too progressive sister. 
Baron von Marschall came to hear of Abdul's de- 
signs, and sought to thwart the plot, and — being in 
Constantinople at that time ; it was my second visit 
— it became part of my duty to aid in bringing the 
counter-plot to successful issue. Mine was not a 
part in the limelight; nevertheless it carried a suffi- 
cient measure of responsibility to enable me to be 
fully conversant with the details of this "episode of 
Knight Marschall, squire of dames," as it was 
facetiously called by one of the conspirators. 

Unfortunately for the Sultan, the affair hap- 
pened at a moment when Berlin had begun to get 
tired of the shifty policy of the Sublime Porte. 
William II. was decidedly piqued that more at- 
tention was not paid by Abdul Hamid to the advice 
which had been showered upon him from Wilhelm- 
strasse. The Sultan was not at all responsive to 
the suggestions of the German Emperor, and was 
getting on his nerves more than a little. At the 
same time the Young Turks were daily growing 
in power, and seemed likely any day to become the 
leaders of the Ottoman Empire — an alliance with 
them would be easy, and von Marschall was per- 



RECHAD ASSERTS HIMSELF 45 

suaded in his own mind that it would profit Ger- 
many to take such a step. 

Accordingly, he cultivated an acquaintance with 
Damid Ferid Pasha that soon ripened into an in- 
timacy, and at last gained for him an introduction 
to the beautiful Princess Mediha. He used his 
opportunities to acquaint her of the dangers which 
threatened. She received the news with a calm- 
ness which proved that she at least knew her broth- 
er's nature; but it roused her Oriental love of in- 
trigue and revenge, and she readily fell in with a 
suggestion which in reality was the first step in 
the development of the conspiracy which was to 
deprive Abdul Hamid of his throne and of his 
liberty. 

It has always been my opinion, and I mention 
it in passing, that the present Sultan would never 
have countenanced the plot had it not been for 
the influence of his sister. She it was who, on that 
dreadful April night when the palace revolution put 
an end to a reign that had been as bloody as it had 
been evil, sat beside Mehmed Rechad, using all her 
powers to bolster his courage as, shaking with 
terror, he reclined on his cushions and wondered 
what kind of death he was destined to meet in a 
few moments. When the conspirators forced their 
way into his rooms, it was Mediha who inspired 
him to receive their salute as the Sovereign and the 
Commander of all the Faithful. Without her it 
is not improbable that the revolution would never 



46 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

have taken place, or, at least, that it would not have 
put the present Sultan on the throne. 

It took Mehmed Rechad some time to become 
familiarised with his new position. Whenever a 
stranger asked to be introduced into his presence, 
or whenever he found himself obliged to appear at 
any public ceremony, he displayed extreme nerv- 
ousness. The habits formed during his many years 
in bondage, the ever-present sense of imminent 
danger engendered by the knowledge that his life 
depended upon the suspicion or caprice of his 
brother, remained with him for a long time after 
his elevation to the supreme dignity. If the truth 
were told, Rechad in his heart neither coveted the 
throne nor was grateful to his sister or her ac- 
complices for their part in foisting it upon him. 

At first he tried to do what he was told, but 
gradually the desire to assert himself possessed 
him, and he began to interest himself in the affairs 
of his vast Empire. Though no soldier, he under- 
stood how necessary was a strong army for his 
country. He listened, therefore, with far more con- 
centration than he was credited with being capable 
of, to the sustained advice from Berlin to agree to 
the resumption of the German military mission for 
the purpose of training Turkish soldiers according 
to German methods and discipline. The result was 
that, when matters settled down after the revolu- 
tion of 1908, von der Goltz, with a score or so of 
German officers, continued his work of reorgani- 
sation, until events led to his recall. 



IMPERIAL CORRESPONDENCE 47 

Although earlier, when the Balkan war broke 
out, Rechad had been heard to express his regret 
that the military education of his troops was not 
yet completed, their measure of efficiency was suffi- 
cient to cause him, when the opportunity arose after 
the first reverses of the campaign, to express the 
opinion that it was worth while trying to regain 
possession of Adrianople whilst the Bulgarians and 
the Serbs were fighting each other. Obedient in 
some things to the will of his advisers, especially 
of Enver Bey — latterly transformed into Enver 
Pasha — he showed his independence in questions 
where the safety of the Empire was concerned. Pie 
had remained silent at the assassination of his 
Grand Vizier, but he refused to be quiet when the 
question was raised as to whether the conditions of 
the treaty which gave up to Bulgaria the posses- 
sion of Adrianople should or should not be adhered 
to. He showed himself quite resolute, and with a 
determination no one could have expected to find 
in his weak nature, he not only accepted the sug- 
gestions of Enver to begin another war with the 
foes who had beaten him a few weeks before, but 
went so far as to review the regiments about to 
start for the front, and in a neat little speech to 
encourage them to win back for Islam the shrines 
from which they had been driven by the hated 
Christians. 

At the same time he started looking around for 
alliances that would be of use to him in strengthen- 
ing his hold upon the advantages he did not doubt 



48 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

for a moment he was about to win. It must be re- 
membered that Baron von Marschall was no longer 
there to give advice to the Sultan. He had been 
appointed to succeed Count IMetternich in London, 
in May, 1912, and after three months had died, his 
place being taken at the Court of St. James by- 
Prince Lichnowsky. The Baron's successor at 
Constantinople had not yet won the confidence of 
Mehmed Rechad, who in that difficult moment 
turned once more to his sister, the one person in 
whom he could have absolute confidence, and whom 
he knew would not betray him, for the simple rea- 
son that if she did so her own life would be in 
jeopardy. 

Mediha Sultane was equal to the occasion. She 
told her brother that the only sensible thing which 
he could do was to follow up the suggestions from 
Berlin by writing personally to the German Em- 
peror, asking him to send another military mission 
to Constantinople to complete the education of the 
Turkish army begun under Field-IMarshal von der 
Goltz. 

William II. hastened to reply that he was only 
too willing to help his good brother, and that he had 
appointed General Liman von Sanders, who would 
start forthwith for Constantinople. The Emperor 
added his opinion that the general, being more con- 
ciliatory in disposition than his predecessor, would 
understand better the peculiarities of the Turkish 
character, and in consequence prove a more suc- 
cessful instructor. 



IMPERIAL CORRESPONDENCE 49 

It was about that time that I was asked to go 
once more to the Turkish capital in order to judge 
for myself the position of things there. To tell 
the truth, I did not suspect the importance of the 
events that were hovering over our heads, and did 
not foresee the great catastrophe which was soon 
to overwhelm Europe, not excepting Turkey. I 
imagined that I was required to do no more than 
obtain some reliable estimate of the condition of 
things in Constantinople after the war which had 
just come to an end. 

It turned out that that was only part — and the 
minor part — of my mission, and that I had been 
chosen because of my known habit of observation. 
Although no direct instruction had been given yet, 
as I had seen Mehmed Rechad in the earliest days 
of his reign, it was evidently assumed with some 
confidence that during this visit my mind would 
be at work making comparisons between the state 
of things then and now, and also as to the direc- 
tions in which the personality of IMehmed had 
shown most development. I arrived at this conclu- 
sion quite soon after my return from Stamboul, for 
I was interrogated with elaborate minuteness as 
to my impressions of the Sultan. I gave a fully de- 
tailed recital of what I had seen and heard, and 
what inferences I drew from the various little po- 
litical intrigues going on around the Sultan, in 
which so many members of his family were com- 
promised. I informed my superiors, further, that 
there were some, though their number was limited, 



50 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

who would not be sorry to see Abdul Hamid re- 
stored. Mehmed Rechad was considered to be 
weak in character, and therefore a source of dan- 
ger to his country. On this particular point I was 
subjected, later, to a yet closer questioning, as, on 
a report being conveyed to an august personage, 
he had emphatically retorted that I was mistaken. 
His words were, I was told, "Mehmed is not weak, 
he only sees the weakness of his resources; quite 
a different thing, I assure you." But to return to 
the original cross-examination: I was asked 
whether it were true that when Abdul Hamid had 
been transferred from his Salonika villa to the 
Palace of Beylerbey, his brother Mehmed had paid 
him a visit there, remaining in close conversation 
with him for a long time. I could only confirm the 
truth of the rumour, adding that when he came 
into the presence of his predecessor he was so 
moved that he bent down and kissed his hand, as 
he had been in the habit of doing when their posi- 
tions were reversed. 

Thereafter I began to give my impressions of the 
personality of Mehmed Rechad, and to compare 
it with that of Abdul Hamid. When I had finished 
the remark was made, "Perhaps it is just as well 
for Turkey that she has now a monarch inclined 
to follow other people's advice rather than his own 
will. We know where we are with the present 
Sultan, though this ought not to make us neglect 
Abdul Hamid; the monlent may come when it will 
be more advantageous for German interest to re- 



ENVER PASHA HOLDS THE KEY 51 

establish Abdul Hamid on his throne than to pre- 
serve good relations with Mehmed Rechad." 

Continuing, the principal of my interrogators 
concluded: "At all events, there is one person in 
Constantinople who will keep his importance for 
some time — Enver Pasha. That man holds the 
key of the whole situation; he is the man to watch 
in any moment of European complication. He can 
convert into concrete actions things about which 
Mehmed Rechad has only some nebulous feeling or 
wish that they might become realities. It is Enver 
Pasha who can complete the reorganisation of the 
Turkish army with the help of German officers; 
he, too, is the man to strike a blow at the traditional 
enemy of the Ottoman Empire — ambitious Russia! 
And who knows whether this may not become nec- 
essary for Germany's existence as well as for the 
welfare of Turkey! Believe me, whatever Fate 
has in store, we shall not yet see the end of Islam." 



CHAPTER IVi 

ENVER PASHA 

IT is impossible to refer to Turkey without 
mentioning Enver Pasha. In recent years he 
has embodied the very soul of Islamic prog- 
ress. Whatever may be the success of his policy, 
however much his methods may be open to criti- 
cism, he is the supremely interesting personality in 
Turkey. 

By his energy and opportunism this young artil- 
lery officer, who a decade ago was comparatively 
if not completely unknown in international politics, 
has risen from the ranks to become chief of the war 
administration. Yet further, he has made himself 
of such political importance that the eyes of the 
whole Ottoman Empire are riveted upon him. His 
influence is far superior to the Sultan's, and his 
power not even the Sheikh-ul-Islam, that supreme 
authority of the Mohammedan world, cares to 
challenge. 

I first knew Enver Pasha when he occupied the 
relatively modest post of Turkish military attache 
in Berlin. In those days I thought him a serious, 
earnest young man, desirous of instructing himself, 
and one who was a most careful observer. I re- 
member that one evening, after some military 

52 



THE TURKISH ARMY 53 

manoeuvres, we started a conversation that first 
touched on the events of the day, and later on 
drifted into a discussion as to the merits of the 
Turkish army. The young Moslem attache be- 
came suddenly eloquent, and explained to me that 
few soldiers had been so maligned as the Turkish 
fighter. "People have become accustomed to de- 
spise us, too, as a nation," he said; "it is the fashion 
to speak of the Turks as being in the last stage 
of decay. They err; there are strong indications 
of future prosperity for my country." 

"It is true," he continued, "that our government 
is abominable, but the moment another Sultan has 
replaced the tyrannic Abdul Hamid, everything will 
change. We are no longer an apathetic people. On 
the contrary, we have in our midst many men who 
have carefully studied social and political questions 
in Europe, and studied them with the intention of 
bringing their knowledge to bear upon the devel- 
opment of Turkey. Baksheesh, it is true, still flour- 
ishes; but, believe me, the moment Turks begin to 
govern their country in earnest, Parliament no 
longer will be the dead thing it is now, and the 
nation will have its say in all questions affecting 
its destinies. In that day baksheesh will cease to 
exist, at least in its present proportions." 

Enver's words verged on the melodramatic, but 
the tone was full of quiet balance. He proceeded 
to justify, or rather to explain, the prevalence of 
bribery: "What gives it such an importance now 
\s the number of adventurous foreigners who have 



54 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

invaded Turkey like so many birds of prey. When 
they are cleared out things will change, and our 
people will be able to initiate a policy of moral ex- 
pansion, which is all that it needs to be able to 
hold its own in Europe. 

"Will you be surprised to hear that the army is 
far stronger than you foreigners think? The fa- 
naticism which in ancient times made it perform 
such wonderful deeds is far from being dead; it 
only slumbers. Our men are still ready to give 
themselves for the sacred cause of Islam. What 
we require is generals capable of leading them. 
What we want is to be at liberty to act independ- 
ently of the Great Powers. They imagine that they 
can control affairs on the Bosphorus, and so far 
have prevented us from contracting alliances capa- 
ble of supporting our country against the preten- 
sions of any who want to appropriate our territory 
before even we are vanquished. The moment that 
a man capable of taking our lead appears, and is 
courageous enough to laugh at those who would 
fain get rid of him, Turkey is saved. There will 
be a very real regret, perhaps, on the part of some 
of her present so-called friends if such a man is 
found, but I for one," he added, ''firmly believe that 
he will be discovered one day." 

"Perhaps he exists already," I remarked; "but 
what chance has he in the presence of an autocrat 
like Abdul Hamid, who will never admit any supe- 
riority beyond his own?" 

"Abdul Hamid is not immortal," retorted Enver 



ENVER BEY AND WILLIAM 11. 55 

Bey, "and, besides, events may prove too strong for 
him, too. Suppose, for instance, that Servia and 
Bulgaria were to declare war on us, he would find 
himself compelled to have confidence in someone; 
he could hardly lead his armies in the field person- 
ally. And then it would be the victorious general 
who had won the battle of Islam who would dic- 
tate, not only to the nation, but to the Sultan him- 
self." 

"Abdul Hamid would have him murdered at 
once," I retorted. 

"It is not so easy to murder a general once he 
is secure in the affection of his troops," answered 
the young officer, "and military revolutions have 
been seen before to-day in Turkey. We still have 
troops eager to be led to victory and to be granted 
power. It will be with them that Abdul Hamid will 
have to count, and, tyrant though he be, he could 
hardly send to the gallows those who had saved 
his country and his throne from foreign aggres- 
sion. Should he feel ever tempted to do so, then — 

then " he paused one moment, and added very 

slowly, singular pathos vibrating in his words, 
"there are other members of our Imperial House 
able to take upon their shoulders the burden of the 
State." 

I have quoted this conversation at length because 
it seems to me that it gives the note to the person- 
ality of Enver Pasha, and proves better than a for- 
mal character-sketch could do of what and how 
deeply he was thinking even then. But he kept his 



56 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

thoughts to himself, and nothing could have led 
those who knew him superficially to believe that he 
had within him the power to become omnipotent in 
the land of his birth or even the qualities to carry 
through a military revolution. 

I have since had serious reason to believe that 
Enver Bey discussed these matters with the Ger- 
man Emperor William IL, with whom he had been 
in favour from his first arrival in Berlin. William 
II., who had failed in his efforts to make Abdul 
Hamid a will-less satellite of the German Empire, 
at once saw the possibilities that could arise out 
of a quiet but nevertheless palpable encouragement 
of the ambitious, dashing young officer, who, whilst 
studying the discipline of the Prussian army, was 
at the same time profiting by all that he saw, and 
was preparing himself for the part which his am- 
bition and consciousness of ability persuaded him 
he could take in the conduct of affairs in his own 
country. 

When Enver Bey left Berlin it was with a cor- 
dial letter of recommendation from the Emperor 
to Baron Marschall von Bieberstein, who in his 
turn was not slow to recognise Enver Bey's re- 
markable individuality and to make a close friend 
of him. The intimacy lasted until the Baron left 
Constantinople, some long time after the accession 
of Mehmed Rechad. 

When Abdul Hamid was overthrown, and the 
question of his being put to death was seriously 
discussed, Enver Bey was the only one who sup- 



IDEALS FOR THE ARMY 57 

ported the German Ambassador when the latter 
declared that under no condition whatever was the 
life of the Sultan to be threatened. The leader of 
the Young Turk party was clever enough to guess 
the immense advantage that, in those first days of 
constitutional freedom, it would be to let it be 
known that he was strongly antagonistic to those 
who wanted to put the Sultan to death. His in- 
sight showed him that Abdul would be the more 
ready to do his bidding if he understood that Enver 
was averse to the drastic measure favoured by cer- 
tain of the revolutionaries. 

Gossip was very busy in Constantinople with the 
doings and sayings of Enver Bey for a long time, 
and his name came to be associated more than once 
with that of the beautiful Princess Mediha Sultane, 
who frequently had been heard to express herself 
in enthusiastic terms about him. Enver Bey was 
a handsome, fascinating man, well read, highly cul- 
tivated, and with wonderfully attractive manners. 
Notwithstanding the restrictions of harem life, he 
had made more than one feminine conquest in 
Stamboul. Fully aware that he was more feared 
and distrusted than liked by his comrades, the 
young officer tried to engage the sympathies of 
their wives, in the hope this course might prove 
useful to him in the future. He was not mistaken. 

When Enver Bey put himself at the head of the 
conspiracy which aimed at the overthrow of Abdul 
Hamid, it was through the influence of the Princess 
Mediha that he was able to organise it. She vis- 



58 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

ited the German Embassy when it was not prudent 
for Enver to be seen there. He knew that every 
movement he made was watched, and had to resort 
to many subterfuges in order to baffle the curiosity 
of spies; and this would not have been easy if he 
had not been helped by the many intermediaries 
he had managed to secure among the fair sex. 

When, some months after the first upheaval, 
Abdul Hamid had been deprived of his throne, it 
was thought that Enver Bey would at once become 
a personage of vastly greater importance — that 
honours and dignities would be showered upon him 
— nothing of the kind occurred. He remained a 
simple officer; and though his position in the army 
became stronger and stronger, he was not offered 
any substantial reward for his services by the new 
Sultan. Nor did he seek official recognition; his 
was a deeper ambition. 

Enver Bey was aware, too, that Mehmed Rechad 
disliked him, and feared him not a little. The 
determination and imperiousness of Enver Bey 
always made timid little Rechad feel uncomfort- 
able. He therefore tried to keep him as far as pos- 
sible from his person, out of the dread, perhaps, 
that Enver Bey might be tempted to cause his over- 
throw as he had in the case of Abdul Hamid. He 
need have had no anxiety. Enver Bey had matters 
of much more personal importance to occupy him 
than the dethronement of the Sultan whom his 
fancy had put upon the throne. 

Vast plans absorbed him; projects which went 



A GRUDGE AGAINST RUSSIA 59 

far into the future. Enver Bey wanted to reform 
the army, and to reawaken the martial spirit which 
had lain dormant during the reign of Abdul Hamid. 
He had faith in the worth of the Turkish soldier, 
and he was aware that Moslem fanaticism only 
needed the opportunity to blaze forth anew. His 
frequent journeys abroad had made him very well 
aware of the dark designs nourished against Tur- 
key by Bulgaria and Servia, and also of Russia's 
sympathy with Slav ideals in the Balkan Peninsula. 
He had had occasion to talk with shrewd Tsar Fer- 
dinand of Bulgaria, and had learned of his aspi-' 
rations to become a great and powerful Emperor 
and to enter the Cathedral of St. Sophia as the 
Christian Sovereign destined to restore that ancient 
shrine to the Christian faith. Enver Bey did not 
sympathise with the idea, and quietly determined 
to prevent its ever becoming a reality should he 
perceive signs of Ferdinand making a move toward 
the realisation of the dream. He did not wait even 
till activity was manifested in that direction, but 
immediately set to work to strengthen the military 
defence of Turkey. 

When the Balkan War of 1912 broke out, and 
he found the Ottoman soldiers giving way before 
the Bulgars and Serbs, he thought it time to in- 
terfere. The Turks were yielding ground they 
should have defended to the last, and the precipi- 
tancy with which they accepted defeat scandalised 
him. He therefore decided to assert himself. 

Curiously enough, just at this time certain Min- 



6o THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

isters who were not favourably disposed to the 
progressive methods of Enver Bey were attacked 
in broad daylight in one of the most frequented 
parts of Constantinople. I think some were killed; 
one was, at any rate, and another seriously injured. 

Thereafter it became easier for Enver Bey to 
make felt the power of his influence, and in a very 
brief time he became virtually the master of Tur- 
key. His first efforts were in the direction of 
the army. Convinced that the peace signed at 
Bucharest would not be lasting, and suspecting that 
before long a European war -was bound to break 
out, he wisely assumed that, properly utilised, such 
a war might prove the salvation of Turkey. Im- 
bued with this idea, he worked without intermis- 
sion at the reorganisation of the army. He allowed 
it to be bullied, punished, insulted even, by its Teu- 
tonic chiefs; but at the same time he kept dangling 
before its eyes the vision of a time when Islam 
would once more raise its head and re-establish 
itself in the proud position it once held in the eyes 
of the world. 

Enver Bey had always cherished a grudge 
against Russia, and the more intently, therefore, 
he watched the developments of the crisis that cul- 
minated in the Great War which broke out in Au- 
gust, 19 14. From his retreat on the banks of the 
Bosphorus, Enver Bey kept himself informed of 
what was going on in the world, and did not even 
attempt to hide his sympathies for the German 
cause. He sent secret messengers to Berlin with 



TROOPS SECRETLY TRAINED 6i 

an offer of service to the Kaiser, declaring to him 
that the forces of Turkey were at his disposal, pro- 
vided he gave his promise that the independence of 
that Empire would be respected. And when he saw 
that neither Russia nor England had taken him 
seriously, he resolutely crossed the Rubicon and 
declared on his own account, because none of his 
colleagues would follow him on such slippery 
ground, that he was going to fight side by side with 
his Austrian and German friends until his beloved 
Turkey had been restored to her former splendours. 

I have been asked sometimes what I thought 
would be the future of Enver Pasha. I can hardly 
bring myself to think that he will ever die in his 
bed like an ordinary mortal; the hatred which he 
has created and the aversion which he inspires pre- 
cludes this possibility in such a country as Tur- 
key. In the meantime, I feel that a man with such 
soaring ambitions would hardly find the consum- 
mation of his desire in the restoration of Turkey 
to its ancient greatness ; he would not be human if 
he has not nursed in the silence of his soul the hope 
to be able to do more than stand at the head of 
that army he has contrived to rouse out of its 
apathy. I feel perfectly sure that Enver Pasha has 
not forgotten for an instant the vow of vengeance 
he registered on the day when the soldiers of the 
foe entered the sacred walls of Adrianople, and 
out of which he was to drive them with such 
energy. 

The general feeling after the cessation of the 



62 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Balkan wars was that Turkey would be occupied 
for many years to come in the rehabilitation and 
reorganisation of her fighting forces. And she 
certainly did enter into that work with zeal. But 
it was not to be for so long as people predicted, 
nor was the recuperative power of the Turkish 
hosts so feeble as was generally assumed. No one 
dreamed that in a comparatively few months Tur- 
key could have sincerely believed that she had dis- 
ciplined her army to the extent of making it fit to 
acquit itself well in another encounter. Never- 
theless, this is what happened, and, as the Russians 
found out, the first conflicts were not entirely to 
the disadvantage of the defenders of Islam. Enver 
Pasha had been a wise man in his generation; and 
while the world deluded itself with the thought that 
he was absorbed by innumerable palace intrigues, 
with secret cunning he had arranged for masses of 
troops to be trained by German officers forming 
part of the new mission headed by General Liman 
von Sanders in the plains of Asia Minor, where 
there was no one to tell the world of the rapid 
progress he felt convinced they would make. His 
hopes were not unrealised, and excellently well- 
instructed and well-equipped troops went forward 
to the Russian frontier. 

Yet another question has been asked me by some 
— How far was the German Emperor cognisant 
of the military propaganda of Enver Pasha? It 
would be unfair to William II. to say that he was 
ignorant of the plans of Enver Pasha in this re- 



TROOPS SECRETLY TRAINED 63 

spect, or that either of them failed to foresee the 
value of military efficiency in the region of the 
Black Sea, where Russian strength of arms was not 
great, and facilities for the rapid transit of rein- 
forcements on the Russian side inadequate to meet 
a sudden emergency. It would seem almost that 
the contingency had been very carefully catered for. 



CHAPTER V 

RUSSIAN INFLUENCE IN CONSTANTINOPLE 

LONG before my first visit to Turkey I had 
been led to believe that all questions affect- 
ing the welfare of the Turkish Empire 
were substantially controlled from Petrograd, or 
Petersburg as it was then. So firmly rooted was 
the power wielded by Russia at the Sublime Porte 
that even the war of 1877 had been unable to shake 
its dominance, though the findings of the Berlin 
Congress certainly narrowed its range. How that 
influence waned and was latterly undermined is one 
of the object lessons of modern history. Another 
long-held belief was that the Christian communi- 
ties in Pera, Galata and elsewhere, looked to the 
Tsar as their natural protector. In the eyes of the 
rival embassies, indeed, Russia was the bugbear 
that everyone seemed to dread and whom all de- 
cided it were wise to watch. 

My astonishment was the greater, therefore, on 
arriving in Constantinople in 1888, to find that 
Russia was fast losing ground in Stamboul, and 
that the Christian population, though giving out- 
ward deference to the Romanoffs, looked far more 
hopefully toward Bulgaria as the defender of their 
interests, should anything untoward happen. The 
days when the word of Ignatieff was law had van- 

64 



SIGNIFICANT AMENITIES 65 

ished, and to all appearance there was little likeli- 
hood of their return. 

At first I felt shy at these discoveries, and was 
reluctant to make even a distant allusion to them 
in conversing with officials of the different embas- 
sies or among my friends and acquaintances. I 
could not help noticing how much care was taken 
always to solicit and listen respectfully to the opin- 
ion of the Russian diplomats, and yet, too, with 
what unanimity no heed was taken of the advice 
tendered on financial and economic matters. I was 
not slow to observe, also, that whereas the invi- 
tations to the Russian Embassy were always ac- 
cepted, apologies and regrets were sent at the last 
moment from an embarrassingly large proportion 
of those in diplomatic circles. There was signifi- 
cance in both circumstances. 

During my roamings about the city in the first 
days of my stay I found myself in Pera, where the 
Greek community reigns supreme, and whence the 
majority of the revolutionary movements of the last 
quarter of a century have emanated. As my knowl- 
edge of these folk increased, and I made acquaint- 
ance with certain of their number, it was borne 
in upon my notice that the importance of Russia 
as a factor to count with, or upon, had dwindled 
almost to vanishing point. The Latin Church was 
under the wing of France, but the Greek Orthodox 
Church, which of old had always looked to Russia, 
was becoming more and more inclined to transfer 
her affections. After the war of the 'seventies 



66 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Count Ignatieff had not been sparing of his prom- 
ises to conserve the rights of the Greek Christians, 
but as time went on they were forced to the realisa- 
tion that their most precious interests were either 
overlooked or forgotten. Consequently Russia lost 
prestige, and gradually an estrangement set in. 
The leaders of the Greek Church in the Ottoman 
Empire began to lend ear to voices from Belgrade 
and Athens, and especially from Sofia, whence was 
whispered the possibility of securing through that 
channel their long-dreamed deliverance from the 
hamper ings of the Turkish yoke. 

Had Russia been wise after the peace of San 
Stefano she would have taken particular care that 
she was always represented at the Sublime Porte 
by men who thoroughly understood the situation 
and were sufficiently quick of perception and bold in 
initiative to divert the tide of religious feeling back 
into its old channels. Unfortunately she did not. 
Prince Lobanoff lacked energy; M. Zinovieff, 
though really a clever man, had little influence; 
M. Nelidoff was too old; and M. de Giers, who was 
in diplomatic charge at the time war was declared 
against the Allies in 1914, was not blessed either 
with rapid decision or abnormal foresight. 

Greece and Bulgaria speedily took advantage of 
the laxity of Russian interest to advance their own 
cause among the Christians by lending a ready ear 
to the complaints against the Sublime Porte. Bul- 
garia especially was active in this propaganda. It 
had its own religious hierarchy, and Ferdinand as- 



A STRUGGLE OF CREEDS 67 

pired to be accredited as the supreme protector of 
the Orthodox Christian Church in the Near East. 

With this in view the priesthood had worked 
very cleverly to sap the old traditions by reason 
of which Russia had maintained a privileged posi- 
tion in the whole of the Levant, as the redresser 
of the wrongs, not only of her own people, but also 
of all the other non-Moslem religious communities 
in Constantinople. The friendliness of the Tsar 
Ferdinand and his mother, the late Princess 
Clementine of Coburg, toward the Jesuits who 
gathered in Bulgaria from the Austrian Roman 
Catholic communities, made much easier the under- 
ground work on the part of Bulgaria which char- 
acterised the last decade of the nineteenth century 
and the opening years of the twentieth. 

This struggle of the Roman and Greek faiths be- 
came more intricate by the intervention of Greece. 
On the question of religious influence there was 
constant friction between Bulgaria and the Gov- 
ernment at Athens, which fought for the extension 
of the privileges already enjoyed by the Greek 
Patriarch of Constantinople. Between the activi- 
ties of these two rivals Russia began to lose pres- 
tige. She seemed, indeed, to be renouncing of her 
own free will her long-existing paternal interest in 
the Christian communities. Her indifference was 
more than short-sighted, because it would mean 
that any interest henceforward manifested by Rus- 
sia on behalf of the Slav nationalities in the Balkan 
peninsula would be purely political in tinge, and as 



68 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

such subject to be contested by the Balkan races 
themselves, who were quite willing to be amenable 
to the Tsar of Russia for their religious freedom, 
but who certainly would never allow their political 
movements to be directed by Nicholas II. — or any- 
one else than themselves. 

I have dwelt at some length on this point because 
it is really the key to the modern situation. The 
principal object which justified the presence of 
Russia in the Near East was the protection which 
she had given from time immemorial to the Chris- 
tian subjects of the Sultan. Having allowed her 
influence to wane, opportunity was afforded for all 
sorts of possibilities, and there were those who were 
not slow to perceive the trend of affairs. The Em- 
peror William II. was early aware of the develop- 
ing situation, and during his visit to the Sultan 
gathered the views of the leading members of the 
Christian communities of Constantinople. It did 
not escape his notice that their allegiance toward 
Russia was considerably shaken. The German Em- 
peror never lost sight of that momentous circum- 
stance, and when in later years events brought a 
closer intercourse with Ferdinand of Bulgaria, my 
reading of the chain of events is that William II. 
advised him to concentrate his energies upon the 
task of ousting Russia, thereby to clear the path 
for the attainment of Ferdinand's dearest wish — ■ 
to be proclaimed Emperor of a Christian Turkey. 

Ferdinand was only too willing to accept the hint, 
and immediately set to work to initiate with en- 



A SECRET UNDERSTANDING 69 

ergy and success the policy which conceivably 
would have brought about the realisation of his 
hopes, had it not been for the timely support given 
to Servia by Nicholas 11. of Russia. 

It is not generally known that when the second 
Balkan War broke out, between Bulgaria, Servia, 
and Greece, that Servia entered into a secret un- 
derstanding with the Russian Government. The 
affair was negotiated by one of M. Pashitch's inti- 
mate friends, M. Guentchitch, a former Servian 
Minister, who spent the greater part of the sum- 
mer of 1913 in Petersburg. This fact did not re- 
main secret from Berlin, where it was recognised 
by William II. as a pronounced danger to his Near 
Eastern policy. To nullify the effectiveness of this 
agreement between Servia and Russia, the German 
Emperor lost no time in paving the way to a recon- 
ciliation between Ferdinand and Mohammed V., 
with the idea of convincing them that their mutual 
interests could best be served by annihilating Rus- 
sian influence in regions of the Black Sea not within 
her own territory. 

Baron von Wangenheim, who followed Baron 
Marschall von Bieberstein at the Sublime Porte, 
was at pains to ingratiate himself with the new 
Sultan and his advisers, nor did he omit to culti- 
vate the goodwill of Abdul. All this resulted in 
furthering the aims of German diplomacy in Con- 
stantinople to the detriment of Russian influence. 

During my last sojourn in Turkey, in the early 
part of 1913, I had occasion to call on M. de Giers, 



70 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

the Russian Ambassador. He very cordially in- 
vited me to dine with him, and over coffee we found 
ourselves discussing the burning questions of the 
day. My host evinced a supreme confidence in the 
achievements of European diplomacy, by which not 
only had a general war been averted, but its like- 
lihood banished for ever. M. de Giers was too opti- 
mistic. He committed the error of not looking be- 
yond the moment, and while not devoid of a goodly 
share of natural intelligence, had nevertheless culti- 
vated the habit of never venturing any decisive step 
upon his own responsibility. 

Almost as soon as he arrived in Turkey he was 
credited to have made the remark that he would 
not allow himself to be inveigled into intrigue. His 
attitude rather emphasised that it was extremely 
probable such a declaration had fallen from his 
lips. The welcoming advances made by various 
of the Bulgarian leaders and by representative men 
of the Greek community were received most coldly, 
and altogether he conveyed the impression to the 
Sublime Porte that he considered he had no right 
to concern himself with questions affecting the in- 
ternal administration of the Turkish Empire, and 
that the sole object of his presence was to keep 
on good terms with the Government to which he 
was accredited. To that end M. de Giers made 
much of his social duties. He had an excellent 
cook, entertained with lavish hospitality, and in his 
deportment was the essence of politeness. 

So far as my own observation went, and from 



DIPLOMATIC MYOPIA 71 

opinions expressed to me as I went about among 
the members of the various embassies, I felt sat- 
isfied that M. de Giers never gave serious thought 
to the possibiHty of a Prusso-Turkish alliance. It 
being part of my field of inquiry to keep an alert 
eye on anything which tended to reveal the fluctua- 
tions of opinion respecting German influence, my 
senses became attuned, as it were, to a fine pitch 
of perception. As a consequence I generally found 
my conclusions were justified by events. Thus, 
when the Russian Ambassador opposed the ap- 
pointment of General Liman von Sanders as the 
virtual head of the Turkish army, he most certainly 
did so more out of deference to his French colleague 
than from any conviction that the episode might 
mean anything which in the future could prove dan- 
gerous to his own country. He believed that 
Turkey was too weak ever to provoke a war with 
Russia, and that her army was too disorganised to 
give her any hope of holding her own. More than 
that, he was persuaded of the unbroken continuity 
and undiminished strength of the friendly feelings 
the Ottoman Government entertained for the Tsar. 
If there were any doubt on the subject, it was, to 
his mind, banished for ever by the fact that a spe- 
cial mission was sent by the Sultan to greet the 
Tsar on the last visit he made to Livadia in the 
Crimea. That, to him, was complete justification 
of his faith. 

In the course of our evening together, on the 
occasion already referred to, M. de Giers frequently 



72 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

alluded to the topic of Moslem friendship, and 
seemed slightly surprised when, with the object of 
inducing him to reveal himself more fully, I ex- 
pressed doubt. 

"Why should Turkey not like us?" he asked. 
*'We are her nearest neighbour, and we certainly 
do not desire the fall of the Ottoman Empire, nor 
even a diminution of its power. We certainly are 
not delighted to see her have German instructors, 
but that has nothing to do with our sentiments for 
her on the broad plane. We also could send officers 
just as clever and as conscientious to train her 
troops." 

"Pardon my emphasis," I replied, "but do you 
ever feel that there may arrive a moment when in- 
ternational complications might tempt Turkey to 
throw herself against you in the hope of getting 
back some of her lost provinces? In such a situa- 
tion it would be very natural for Turkey to do so." 

"Ah, yes," replied the ambassador; "yes, but 
you can take it from me no general complications 
Tmll occur, at any rate not for a long time to come. 
A few months ago we were very near to war, but 
now I really do not see what could bring it about. 
I do not think that any monarch in Europe would 
dare to risk such an adventure. Do not you think, 
too, that the fevered armaments which are being 
multiplied on every hand are the best guarantee 
that we have entered into a period of long peace?" 

"You may be right, of course," was my reply, 
"but have you thought that these very armaments 



A FALSE SECURITY 73 

may become an insufferable burden, and that one or 
other of the nations may feel compelled to declare 
war in order to prevent the financial strain such 
tremendous armaments involves making life intol- 
erable to its peoples?" 

M. de Giers looked at me v^ith the expression of 
a veteran instructing a novice, a wealth of self- 
satisfaction modulating his voice. 

"Ah! how one sees that you are not a diplomat 
by profession," he said. "No, believe me, we are 
in no danger of clouds obscuring the European sky; 
you may rest content on that point." 

I refrained from disturbing the confiding ambas- 
sador's security, but wondered in the secret of my 
soul what made him so unobservant of the grave 
events that were taking place under his very eyes. 



CHAPTER VI 

GERMAN PRESTIGE IN THE NEAR EAST 

ENOUGH has been told in earlier chapters 
to give insight into the activities and char- 
acter of German diplomacy in the Near 
East. Russia's satisfaction in the preponderating 
reality of her own influence was Germany's oppor- 
tunity, and, setting aside any discussion of ethical 
standards, it is to be doubted whether any diplo- 
matist of any country would have refrained from 
taking advantage of the situation, to the benefit 
of his own nation at the expense of Russia. 

As we have seen, Germany had always been vigi- 
lant and enterprising, and so was easily first in 
the field. While others vv^ere satisfied with them- 
selves, Germany sought out .means of making for 
herself a position in the Levant, and by using meth- 
ods which appealed to Turkish minds she succeeded. 

A considerable factor in the rapidity with which 
Teutonic influence gained ground was that the serv- 
ants of the Fatherland set themselves to understand 
the intricacies of the Oriental mind, and so ordered 
their conduct that a minimum of friction arose. 
In this the Emperor William II. himself was not 
behind his ministers. His study of the Turk en- 
abled him to follow to perfection his mental and 

74 



AN EMPEROR'S PILGRIMAGE 75 

moral tortuousness. It also guided him in his de- 
meanour toward the Moslem. Appreciating to a 
nicety how far the Turk is glamoured by display 
and grandiloquence, he adjusted the details of his 
memorable visits to different domains of Moham- 
medanism on the Mediterranean. Even the small- 
est incidents were carefully prepared in advance, 
with regard to the impressions the Emperor de- 
sired to make. 

A notable instance was the pilgrimage of Wil- 
liam II. to the Holy Land. When he arrived within 
sight of the walls of Jerusalem he asked to be 
shown the exact spot whence tradition holds that 
Godfrey de Bouillon obtained his first sight of the 
Holy City. It being pointed out, he stood for some 
time gazing on the sacred city, and then expressed 
a desire to erect a monument on the spot, "Be- 
cause," he added, "it is fitting that a memorial to 
perpetuate the name of the first king of Jerusalem 
should be raised by the first German sovereign who 
had been able to walk in his footsteps." 

The same Turkish dignitary, attached to the suite 
of the German Emperor, who told me this incident, 
also revealed a remarkable proposal William II. 
made when he paid reverence to the sanctity of the 
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. As visitors know, 
a holy calm is by no means the prevailing atmos- 
phere, and continual strife goes on within the sanc- 
tuary between the various religious communities. 
To the Emperor it savoured of something akin to 
sacrilege that the maintenance of order in the most 



76 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

holy spot of Christendom should be in the hands of 
Mohammedans, and so he made the extraordinary 
inquiry of the pasha who was acting as cicerone 
whether he thought it would be possible to obtain 
from the Sultan the cession to Germany of the city 
of Jerusalem, including the Church of the Holy 
Sepulchre, in order that he might guard it against 
desecration. "It is not seemly that the tomb of 
Christ should be the scene of continual strife. If 
the Sultan would consent to make Germany the 
custodian of Jerusalem, all these painful incidents 
would cease. Were his desire fulfilled," was the 
argument, ''tranquillity would be restored among 
the rival Christian guides who roam about the sa- 
cred precincts and quarrel over the plundering of 
tourists and pilgrims." 

With such zeal did the German Emperor prose- 
cute this new idea which had inflamed his mind 
that, despite the assurance of the pasha in ques- 
tion that the Sultan would never lend himself to 
such a scheme, William II. had the matter taken 
up by his Foreign Office. The impracticability of 
such a proposal being seriously put forward was 
so patent to the officials in Wilhelmstrasse that the 
Imperial suggestion was transmitted to the Sub- 
lime Porte in such language that the authorities 
accepted the hint and found no difficulty in re- 
turning a decided refusal couched in polite terms. 

This policy of pomp was also seen in active op- 
eration when William II. went to Morocco. By his 
lavish display of the gorgeous trappings of royalty. 



WILLIAM II. AMONGST MOORS 'jy 

his simulation of reverence for Mohammedan de- 
votions, and his prodigal distribution of baksheesh, 
he achieved a vociferous popularity among the 
Moors. He was certainly successful in producing 
the impression that he was a strong and powerful 
monarch. He showed himself extremely amiable 
to all with whom he came into contact. In the 
course of his tour he conversed with many Arabs 
and natives, particularly on the quality of their 
friendship toward France. 

On the day he left the usual complimentary 
speeches were made. That of the German Em- 
peror was felicitous, and it contained some por- 
tentous phrases which were not made public; they 
were rash words, lightly spoken, but capable of 
sinister construction by those not well disposed to 
the Emperor. He brought his little speech to a 
close with these words : "I am going home delighted 
with my visit, but I will not say good-bye. I will 
hope that soon I may be able to come back, no 
longer as a visitor, but as the ally of the great Turk- 
ish Sultan and as the best friend and protector of 
Islam." 

Some such sentiment as this he also expressed 
at the conclusion of his tour in the Holy Land a 
few years earlier. The underlying spirit of these 
incidents is a consciousness of the value to Ger- 
many of Turkish friendship, or at any rate her 
complacency. William II. was convinced of the 
benefit his empire would derive, if certain potential- 
ities developed, from an alliance with Turkey and 



78 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Mohammedanism, and, whatever other nationali- 
ties may think of his actions, he was patriotic 
enough — sometimes to the point of unwisdom — to 
plan always for the future in his acts and sayings. 
Looking backward over the years of his reign, 
every observant student of political evolution must 
discern the truth of this assertion. The German 
Emperor was not in close sympathy with either the 
Sultan of Turkey or the Sultan of Morocco, but 
his far sight recognised the value of Moslem 
friendship should ever Russia make a definite stand 
against the growth of German influence in the Bal- 
kans or become fearful of the undoubted dominance 
which Germany had secured in Turkish military 
administration. To have a Turkish fleet bombard- 
ing Odessa, or a Holy War proclaimed in the region 
of the Caucasus, would denude Russia of neces- 
sary troops for the western frontiers — and that 
would be a trump card. 

This line of thought is admittedly in the realm 
of the unprovable, but its improbability was by no 
means so illusory. Indeed, it was well known in 
certain circles in Berlin that of recent years the 
German Emperor had the fixed idea that whereas 
there was no manifest reason why he should go to 
war with Russia, yet it was inevitable that at some 
time a conflict would be precipitated, and that the 
contingency was not made more remote by the ex- 
istence of the Franco-Russian entente. In the 
financial circles of Berlin such a conviction was 
strongly held, and inclined leading financiers to 



A TEMPORARY ECLIPSE 79 

listen with favour to schemes and concessions in- 
volving large monetary speculations in Turkish 
regions, but promising exceedingly rich rewards 
to German trade and industry. 

The Turkish upheaval, which culminated in the 
deposition of Abdul Hamid, did not interfere with 
German designs; indeed, the accession of Mehmed 
Rechad and the rise to power of Enver Pasha were 
circumstances which tended to establish on a still 
firmer basis German influence in Turkey. As the 
world knows, German prestige suffered a tempo- 
rary eclipse three or four years ago, but far less 
harm than is generally imagined was done to Ger- 
man influence, which is very different from pres- 
tige. It occasioned little surprise, therefore, to 
those who knew how the current was running un- 
der the surface that, when war broke out between 
Turkey and her Slav neighbours, Enver Bey, as he 
was then, requested William II. to permit a num- 
ber of German officers to take active part in the 
conflict. They were allowed to do so, and their 
efforts followed with close interest. When Adri- 
anople fell, it is public knowledge that the German 
Emperor telegraphed his regrets to the Sultan. 
What is not known outside a narrow circle of 
higher political agents is that the royal telegram 
also included the following astonishing sentiment: 
"I do not despair that within a very short time 
the ancient shrine of Islam will be again in the 
possession of Your Majesty, and Your Majesty 



8o THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

may rest assured that I shall do all that lies within 
my power in order that it should be so." 

To explain that the telegram was in cipher is 
unnecessary. 

During the discussion of the treaty of peace the 
German Ambassador in London received strict in- 
structions to insist upon Adrianople remaining in 
the possession of the Turks, and after the war 
which broke out and automatically settled the vexed 
question, William 11. secured — some say compelled 
— the acceptance of a new military mission. This 
mission had extraordinary powers, but it was not 
commanded by Field-Marshal von der Goltz. The 
Emperor was displeased with him. He may have 
felt that the lost prestige referred to a few sentences 
earlier was because von der Goltz had not been suffi- 
ciently diligent in furthering the cause of Germany. 

Be that as it may, it was discovered that Marshal 
Liman von Sanders was entrusted with the mission. 
In Berlin it was said that von Sanders' farewell 
audience with the Emperor occupied considerably 
more time than usual. Gossip among a well- 
informed few went so far as to say that the gist of 
the conversation was the means whereby a definite 
alliance between Turkey and the Fatherland was 
to be brought about, and that the General went out 
to Turkey in the belief that such a consummation 
would benefit the Ottoman Empire to a far greater 
extent than Germany. 

I knew Marshal Liman von Sanders. He was a 
most amiable man, full of quiet tact, with excellent 



MARSHAL LIMAN VON SANDERS 8i 

manners, wide military knowledge, and a thorough 
understanding of the duties he felt himself called 
upon to perform. When he arrived in Turkey he 
set himself to work at once, and with sagacious 
diplomacy handled the delicate situation with con- 
siderable skill. He was well aware that his was a 
perilous path — many Turks looked askance at him, 
and even those who warmly supported the idea of 
a German alliance were decidedly restive at the fate 
of the Turkish army being left so completely in his 
hands. His difficulties were accentuated by his in- 
ability to speak the Turkish language, and he did 
not know sufficient of his subordinates to feel quite 
happy in trusting them with his confidence. Never- 
theless, with true Teutonic energy he applied him- 
self to the tasks of overcoming the various obsta- 
cles and achieving a greater measure of success 
even than his predecessor had wrested from circum- 
stance. In co-operation with Enver Bey he con- 
ceived the idea of training the troops away from 
the eyes of Constantinople, and accordingly con- 
ducted his operations in the remoteness of Asia 
Minor, where progress could not be watched and 
noted by interested observers. Here his assiduity 
was rewarded, and, so far as efficiency in drill and 
marksmanship are concerned, the standards of the 
German military system were maintained. How 
far in actual warfare the Mohammedan army 
would stand the test was then on the knees of the 
gods. One difficulty, however, was never overcome, 
and that was the latent hostility always felt by the 



82 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Turkish troops at being commanded by "those 
Christian dogs." 

In other directions than the organisation of the 
army Germany found scope for exercising her gift 
of perseverance. It is noteworthy that from the 
highest diplomatic official down to the humblest 
civil servant Berlin seldom erred in her selection. 
One and all were solicitous of the progress of Ger- 
many, knew what was expected of them, and did 
their best to justify the confidence reposed in them. 

It is little to be wondered that the consequence 
was that, while Russia declined in prestige, Ger- 
man influence daily grew more powerful. Constan- 
tinople was becoming persuaded of the greatness 
of Germany, of her paramount strength in the 
world, and, the greatest asset of all, of her fidelity 
to those whom she counted as friends. German 
trade and German industry gained considerably 
through that policy, and German manufactures 
ousted from the Turkish markets those of other 
countries. England maintained her lead, but 
showed exceedingly little increase in the volume of 
trade, while Germany progressed by leaps and 
bounds until, as compared with thirty years ago, 
her exports to Turkey showed more than a hun- 
dredfold increase. Great Britain suddenly awoke 
to a realisation of the fact that the bulk of the busi- 
ness arising out of the development of commercial 
facilities in Turkey was going in the direction of 
Germany, that the Teuton had taken for his own 



PRODIGAL BRIBERY 83 

advantages that which the Englishman had become 
accustomed to consider exclusively his prerogative. 

Not only in England but in other European coun- 
tries a very real concern was exhibited at the vast 
expansion of German interests in the Near East, 
not so much at the capture of the trade, but at the 
circumstances which made it possible. Diplomats 
and consuls engaged themselves in fathoming the 
causes which had contributed to the rapid and wide 
development, and out of these inquiries grew a 
friction which led to strategy and provocation in 
various directions. The uneasiness created was still 
agitating the various influences at work to secure 
lost ground, or to maintain the position gained, as 
the case might be, when the possibility of war be- 
gan to be discussed. 

It is true that Germany lost considerable prestige 
and England seemed to have scored a diplomatic 
victory during the last days of Baron von Mar- 
schall's reign at the German Embassy, but the cir- 
cumstance only served to provide further stimula- 
tion to German efforts, and in ways known to them- 
selves they were able ere long to emerge from the 
cloud as powerful as ever. 

I am satisfied that this conviction of progress 
and energy and virility which German diplomats 
were able to convey to the minds of high Turkish 
officials was no small factor in bringing the Sub- 
lime Porte to the decision that they were safe in 
making with Germany an alliance not less real be- 
cause not officially ratified in the eyes of Europe. 



84 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

To the Turk the Germans were the masters of the 
West, a belief strengthened by the prodigality with 
which Berlin poured gold into the lap of Turkey. 

An intercepted document which came into my 
keeping in 19 14 I have before me at this very mo- 
ment. It is in the handwriting of one who was on 
terms of close friendship with William I., but who 
has never approved of the ethical ideas of the old 
Emperor's grandson. This long indictment of Ger- 
man overtures in the Near East, for such it is, 
avouched that the great reason of the Sublime 
Porte being willing to listen to German proposals 
was that only Germany had raised no difficulty 
whenever Turkey wanted money. The Ottoman 
Empire had nearly exhausted any credit she had 
in France and England, or other European coun- 
tries, and her negotiations with America had not 
been crowned with success. Germany proved the 
solitary exception, and purses were opened to Tur- 
key with an alacrity which ought to have made her 
suspicious of what lurked behind such apparently 
disinterested friendship and generosity. Unfortu- 
nately, Turkish statesmen were unable to see this. 
Maybe they feigned blindness, for there are those 
who say that no matter what amount of solid cash 
the Sublime Porte receives, half of it goes into 
private pockets. Whatever the reason, the fact re- 
mains that Turkey complacently allowed the net to 
be woven round her. In this way, the document 
states, the German Emperor prepared his ground 
for an easy assent on the part of Turkey to a defi- 



IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE WAR 85 

nite alliance. His foresight had enabled him to 
plan for such an issue long before it was generally 
recognised how acute the Balkan situation might 
become. When, therefore, Europe awoke to the 
danger a mid-European conflagration might prove 
to the greater nations, Germany had already 
strongly entrenched herself in the friendship of 
Turkey, and so gained for herself a position which 
would materially benefit her dispositions should she 
become involved in a conflict. 

More than that transpired from the narrative 
unfolded in the document from which I have been 
quoting. What follows is of vital moment, as it 
refers to a period immediately before the war. The 
writer flatly charges William II. with a determina- 
tion to bring about a rupture. The German Em- 
peror was apprehensive that Russia would not make 
good her support of Servia, and therefore sent a 
confidential messenger to "suggest to Tsar Ferdi- 
nand at Sofia that, in case of a conciliatory attitude 
being adopted by the Russian Government, he 
would find it to his advantage to invade Servian 
territory." 

I have given the exact words just as they were 
set down. "These overtures," the document pro- 
ceeds, "were received in a friendly spirit, but Fer- 
dinand declared that circumstances forced him to 
an extreme reserve. In the face of public opinion 
in Bulgaria, it would be impossible for him to fol- 
low out the suggestion; but, should any 'Servian 
insolence' be demonstrated, Bulgarians would cer- 



86 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

tainly back up any firm attitude he chose to adopt. 
In any case," the Tsar of Bulgaria is purported to 
have said, "I cannot prophesy what is going to hap- 
pen, but the question of the neutraUty of Bulgaria 
need not be raised until the precipitation of a con- 
flict makes the matter of interest to Europe. And 
even then it will not need discussing till later stages 
are reached ; at such a period our neutrality may be 
more than a pawn in the game." 

To come back to matters within my personal 
knowledge, I was in Berlin when, a short time be- 
fore the war, Enver Pasha paid a flying visit to 
Wilhelmstrasse. I spent an hour with him before 
he left again for Constantinople. He seemed un- 
usually bright and happy, in brisk spirits, and ex- 
pecting great things for his country in the imme- 
diate future. 

For some time, he told me, secret emissaries of 
Turkey had been working on the feelings of the 
Mohammedan population of the Caucasus, doing 
their best to destroy every feeling of respect for 
Russia. In Batoum, he said, speaking with greater 
freedom doubtless from his knowledge that I was 
a political agent, arms and ammunition had been 
distributed to the natives. It was certain, too, that 
the inhabitants of the Black Sea littoral had been 
won over, and only awaited the opportunity to de- 
clare themselves in favour of the Turkish cause; 
while the Armenians, aggrieved at Russia's neglect, 
would not lift a little finger to save her. "Russia," 
added Enver Pasha, "has lost the sympathies of 



A SIGNIFICANT NOTE 87 

every Slav nation in the Balkans except Montene- 
gro and Servia." Continuing, "At present," he 
said, "Turkey is strongly enthusiastic over Ger- 
many." 

When Enver Pasha left Berlin at the conclusion 
of his secret visit, I took him to the station. I had 
grown to like the young officer, notwithstanding his 
many failings and soaring ambitions. He told me 
he had had a long talk with the Emperor, and he 
seemed particularly cheerful in consequence. More 
than once I have wondered what bearing that talk 
had upon subsequent events on the Bosphorus. Un- 
doubtedly, with such a man as Enver Pasha, the 
situation in the Near East would have been upper- 
most, and he would be quite unlikely to have neg- 
lected the opportunity of a frank conversation with 
the Emperor William. Indeed, it seems to me that 
the visit to the German Emperor was more in the 
nature of a prearranged consultation than a fugi- 
tive opportunity avidly seized. My curiosity was 
yet further excited when I received by the same 
mail which announced that Turkey had joined in 
the war a note in the handwriting of Enver Pasha, 
containing few but trenchant words: "The hour 
has struck. May Allah help us." 



CHAPTER VII 

AMBASSADORS AT THE SUBLIME PORTE 

APOLITICAL agent enjoys more freedom 
than does a diplomat. There is less re- 
straint, and, if he is not averse to the small 
change of social gossip, finds life full of variety. 
Without conceit I can say that, when the call of 
service led me afar, on my return to Constantinople 
I found that I had not been forgotten during the 
years of my absence. The purpose of these remarks 
is not, however, to emphasise my own popularity, 
but to justify the statement that I was the recipient 
of many a whispered drawing-room confidence, 
which, added to my own knowledge and observa- 
tion, has afforded sufficient groundwork for giving 
some outline of the personalities of the various dip- 
lomatic figures who have held office in Constanti- 
nople. 

More than ordinary interest attached to the em- 
bassies in Constantinople because the political at- 
mosphere was always charged with possibilities 
which relieved diplomatic life on the Bosphorus 
from any suspicion of monotony. It was the aim, 
therefore, of ambitious young men to become asso- 
ciated with the embassy of their particular nation 
for the sake of the experience to be gained in the 

88 



BARON VON RADOWITZ 89 

conduct of modern state politics. This, and the fact 
that the fashionable resorts near the Turkish cap- 
ital were altogether delightful during the summer 
months, and in consequence attracted many notable 
people, made Constantinople a point of observation 
of unusual interest. 

For a considerable period Baron von Radowitz 
represented Germany at the Sublime Porte. He 
was a charming man, bright in manner, and clever 
in matters of diplomacy. Although old Prince 
Gortschakov always asserted that the Baron was 
a muddler, nevertheless von Radowitz managed to 
do substantial work for his country. It is un- 
doubted that Baron von Radowitz laid the founda- 
tions upon which, later, was built the close friend- 
ship between William II. and Sultan Abdul Hamid. 
This achievement was the more remarkable inas- 
much as previously the relations between Germany 
and Turkey had been cool. The student of history 
will need no telling that Prince Bismarck never 
kept secret the profound contempt he felt for the 
Turk, and this feeling was shared and expressed 
throughout Germany. Nor was the Sublime Porte 
ignorant of the fact. 

When William ascended the throne and initiated 
his policy of cultivating the friendship of Turkey, 
his ambassador found ample scope for the exercise 
of his diplomatic gifts. It was certain no "mud- 
dler" could hope to succeed. Incidentally, he had 
a tremendously hard time of it at first. Von der 
Goltz, it is true, had been at work with the army, 



90 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

but that as yet was no great influence, and the 
Turks were quite willing to accept favours with- 
out extending a reciprocal friendship. In spite of 
all, and in the face of the added difficulty that he 
had to perform his task without raising suspicion 
that it was in progress. Baron von Radowitz con- 
trived to impress upon the Turk that he, at least, 
held kindly feelings toward them. From this first 
step, by assiduous cultivation of the right people, 
he was able to bring the Sublime Porte to consider 
that Germany was a friend worth having, and that 
he himself was finding some measure of success in 
his indefatigable efforts to eradicate from the minds 
of his colleagues at Wilhelmstrasse the "false im- 
pression" — the Baron's own delightful euphemism 
— which, much to his regret, had hitherto prevailed. 
If for nothing else, the service von Radowitz ren- 
dered to his country by turning the mind of the 
Turk toward Germany gives his name high place 
on the scroll of diplomatic fame. Had he failed, 
who knows what may have been the relations be- 
tween the two countries to-day? When William II. 
made his triumphal journey to Constantinople in 
1889, it was a triumph also for the Baron. 

Some measure of the popularity enjoyed by 
Baron von Radowitz was owing to his wife. She 
was a Russian by birth, and an unusually charming 
woman. Together the Baron and his wife made the 
German Embassy a centre of social enjoyment, for 
von Radowitz himself was a perfect host, accom- 
plished, entertaining, and a delightful raconteur. 



BANISHED TO MADRID 91 

To the humour of his anecdotes was added the spice 
of truth, for he was an observant man and saw 
many happenings which others allowed to go un- 
noticed. 

Gossip said that he possessed that attribute com- 
monly credited to diplomats, and good-humouredly 
accepted by them almost as a delicate compliment 
— a penchant for unscrupulousness. More tangi- 
ble gifts were his extreme shrewdness, his light- 
ning adaptability, his urbane wiliness, and an admi- 
rable knowledge of human nature. He used these 
qualities with considerable discernment and sin- 
gular tact, and during his tenure of office, at a 
period of exceptional difficulty, did splendid serv- 
ice for his Emperor. 

Yet for all that he felt the heavy hand of Wil- 
liam II. when he ventured to suggest that certain 
features in a policy he was instructed to pursue in 
regard to Servia and Bulgaria were unwise. It was 
of no avail that his knowledge of affairs in the Bal- 
kan peninsula gave weight to his opinions ; as speed- 
ily as the thunder crash follows the flash of light- 
ning, his remonstrance was answered by instruction 
to take up an appointment at Madrid. This un- 
expected and unforeseen transference was looked 
upon as a sign of displeasure, as the ambassadorial 
post at Madrid was considered to involve much less 
responsibility than at Constantinople. 

These events took place between my first and my 
second visits to the Bosphorus. M. Radowitz left 
Constantinople in 1892, and in 1897 another notable 



92 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

diplomat, my friend Baron Marschall von Bieber- 
stein, was appointed in succession to Baron Saurma 
de Jeltsch. 

Baron von Marschall had the advantage of com- 
ing to Constantinople direct from ministerial du- 
ties in Berlin, in the course of which, particularly 
at the Foreign Office, he had attained to a wide 
knowledge of the undercurrents of German policy 
in regard to the Near East. This was an unques- 
tionable asset, and all through his diplomatic serv- 
ice at the Sublime Porte he was guided and helped 
by the fact that he knew much of the inner work- 
ings of Balkan state affairs and the measure of 
German influence exerted in the various countries 
of the group. In this way he was able to realise 
that the future of Turkey was in danger of being 
compromised by the intrigues of the smaller states 
along her borders and in the Balkan area. He was 
also in a favoured position when he arrived at Con- 
stantinople to checkmate, or at any rate counteract, 
these secret movements, and he was not slow in 
beginning operations. The Baron was not long in 
office at the embassy ere he discovered that the dip- 
lomats of other countries, not excepting Russia, 
though not entirely unaware of the way the tide 
was flowing, were ignorant of the strength of the 
current and of the potentialities of the situation. 

As earlier chapters have shown, Bieberstein was 
energetic in stemming the tide by quietly setting 
to work to strengthen Turkey. It was only natu- 
ral, and perfectly legitimate diplomacy, that he 



THE SITUATION IN 1897 93 

should make capital out of his efforts by keeping 
the Sultan and high officials in Turkey in a con- 
tinual state of acknowledgment of their obligations 
to Germany for thus befriending her. From that 
step to the definite exercise of influence directed 
to the establishment of German control in certain 
departments of state administration was not a su- 
perhuman task for a diplomat of such capabilities 
and resource as Baron von Marschall. What Rado- 
witz began, Bieberstein brought to fruition. 

At the time the Baron took office he found Aus« 
tria waiting the chance to annex Bosnia and Herze- 
govina from the Sultan of Turkey, and moreover 
was casting longing eyes toward Servia, to the det- 
riment of the Obrenovitch dynasty. His particular 
fear so far as Servia was concerned was that were 
Austria to gain her ambition in that quarter it 
would only prove a further menace to Turkey, 
which was unthinkable. Circumstances combined 
to defeat Baron von Marschall, and Bosnia and 
Herzegovina became part of Austria-Hungary. 
I have heard it whispered that the Baron was not 
so inconsolable as might have been expected from 
his early championing of Turkey's cause against 
Austria, the reason being the passing of certain 
suggestions from Berlin as to the modified attitude 
to be observed in regard to the affairs of the Em- 
peror Francis Joseph. Be that as it may, it seemed 
good policy to impress upon the nations of the Near 
East that Turkey had found a loyal friend in Ger- 
many, and was likely, therefore, to take on a new 



94 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

lease of life. The effect was soon observed in Tur- 
key's renewed prestige, and the feeling that Ger- 
many was behind the scenes while Turkey was in 
the limelight threw cold water on the unhealthy am- 
bition of Ferdinand, who was then a prince of Bul- 
garia yearning for a kingdom of his own. When 
Bulgaria declared its independence in 1908, and 
Ferdinand found his ambition reahsed, he did not 
forget his dislike of Baron von Bieberstein, and 
this feeling has tinctured Ferdinand's feelings in 
relation to Germany, toward whom he has pre- 
served an elusive attitude of fulsome promise of 
decisions always to be made in the future. 

Much to the delight of Bieberstein, the feeling 
of uncertainty as to the exact value of Ferdinand's 
promises and the nature of his real intentions was 
shared by William II., who in those days exhibited 
a lukewarm tolerance for Ferdinand. It can hardly 
be described in warmer phrases, and even when 
the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was fond of 
his cousin Ferdinand, did his best to bring about 
a better understanding between Ferdinand and 
William II., the effort did not succeed. All this by- 
play of circumstance was so much gained for the 
plans of von Marschall, whose ambition was to 
bring Turkey into the Triple Alliance. The forces 
which he hoped would bring about such a consum- 
mation were twofold. First, Turkey's acceptance 
of Germany's emphatic protestations of disinter- 
ested friendship, and, secondly, Turkey's fear of 
her neighbours. 



BARON VON WANGENHEIM 95 

Baron von Bieberstein's efforts to further Ger- 
man interests in Turkey need no recounting; they 
were so far successful that he brought within meas- 
urable range of signing a treaty of alliance between 
the two empires. From his advent in 1897 all 
von Marschall's energies had been directed toward 
securing a dominant voice in Turkish affairs, and 
it was a bitter disappointment that the crowning 
triumph of an alliance under clauses framed at 
Wilhelmstrasse was frustrated by the obstinacy of 
Abdul Hamid, who at the last minute refused to 
bind himself by anything more tangible than his 
verbal assurance of support in the event of a war 
breaking out in the West. When the astute diplo- 
mat was thus frustrated, he sought to encompass 
his aim through the instrumentality of Enver Bey, 
whose star was in the ascendant — but that is a story 
already told. 

Baron Marschall von Bieberstein was a big man, 
broad shouldered, rugged, and kindly in appear- 
ance. He was a clever talker, and had the rare 
quality of jovial enthusiasm in his social enjoy- 
ments. In conversation he was apt to indulge in 
humour of a satirical tinge, but was broad minded 
in his views, and possessed of a quick intuition 
which made him extraordinarily adaptable. When 
he was appointed to London in the summer of 19 12 
it was felt that he honestly deserved the reward 
of such an exalted position. And when he died, 
a few brief months after his appointment, even his 
enemies, of whom he made many during his force- 



96 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

ful career at the Berlin Foreign Office, conceded 
that a great man had passed away. 

I learned with sincere gratification of the ap- 
pointment of Baron von Wangenheim to the em- 
bassy at Constantinople. He is a personal friend 
of mine. The Emperor's choice was a particularly 
happy one. He is as tactful and enterprising as 
his predecessor had been, and quick at seizing op- 
portunities which would prove beneficial to his 
country. During the Balkan crisis his conduct was 
prudent in the extreme, and even in the moments 
of greatest tension he contrived both to keep cool 
and to mask his real opinions. 

Baron von Wangenheim was a whole-souled be- 
liever in the Welt-politik of Emperor William II., 
and was firmly convinced that the Germans were 
God's own people. It was under his reign at the 
embassy that the secret compact which Baron von 
Marschall had so nearly brought about was finally 
entered into.* The achievement gave considerable 
satisfaction among those who viewed with trepi- 
dation the loosening of the ties of the Triple Alli- 
ance upon "treacherous Italy," as the third party 
to the 1887 treaty was freely called at that time. 

Of other diplomats whom I met during my visits 
to Constantinople, Margrave Pallavicini, the rep- 
resentative from 1906 of our ally Austria, finds 

* Notwithstanding the absence of official sanction, the in- 
tent of the compact can be looked upon in no other light than 
that of a verbally agreed Alliance. At Wilhelmstrasse that 
was the status given to the affair. 



M. LOUIS BOMPARD 97 

foremost place. He was a member of the Hun- 
garian branch of that illustrious family and the 
embodiment of polished courtliness. He became 
popular almost as soon as he took up residence at 
Pera, his dignity and affability making his society 
much sought after. He tried to put at ease all 
who spoke to him, but was a past master in the 
art of politely extinguishing any venturesome per- 
son who attempted to take a liberty. At times his 
ways have a suspicion of pomposity, which is inva- 
riably forgiven — because he is exceedingly rich. 
His diplomatic labours are characterised by strong 
common sense, and he is an ambassador with 
principles. 

I met M. Louis Bompard only on my last visit, 
though he had represented France at the Sublime 
Porte from 1909. Previously he had held the dip- 
lomatic office at Petersburg, a fact which was of 
considerable use to him in watching developments 
at Constantinople. When he came to the embassy 
the work of overshadowing Russian by German 
influence was wellnigh completed, but he found 
scope for his energies and much that interested him. 
Though probably few would have called him bril- 
liant, M. Bompard was undeniably clever and pos- 
sessed a singularly keen quality of penetration. I 
believe he discerned more of the real situation, and 
what were the real factors producing it, than many 
a one who had been on the spot for years. He 
freely condemned European interference, and was 
particularly disdainful of what he liked to call 



98 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

"Harem intrigues." And because he held himself 
aloof from every kind of intrigue, he gained the 
sincere respect of the pashas and other officers who 
were the private advisers of the Sultan. 

Mehmed Rechad had been three months on the 
throne when M. Bompard arrived in Berlin, which 
meant that the French ambassador missed the revo- 
lution. He was not sorry to leave Petersburg, 
where he paid the social penalty of following an 
exceedingly rich ambassador who entertained lav- 
ishly and who was of high birth. Nevertheless, 
he was staunch and unwavering in his sympathies 
for Russia as a nation, and did the best he could 
to act in harmony with the Tsar's representative 
on all the grave and important questions that arose 
during his sojourn in Turkey. 

Although personally, as a political agent seek- 
ing ever to further the interests of my own coun- 
try, I could do nothing but rejoice at the outcome, 
I often felt that M. Bompard was hampered, and 
secretly vexed, at the want of appreciation with 
which his Russian colleague met his efforts. More 
than once when the Frenchman proposed some joint 
representation which he felt it necessary for their 
common interests that they should make to the Sub- 
lime Porte, he found M. de Giers unwilling to do 
so. Not from any unfriendliness, but from what 
was more galling still to M. Bompard, a refusal 
to recognise any need to disturb the contentment 
which — ^because it seemed so on the surface — the 
Russian ambassador was satisfied really prevailed. 



SIR LOUIS MALLET 99 

M. de Giers was far too optimistic for his French 
colleague's peace of mind. 

Before I understood the personality of M. 
Bompard I ventured to ask hi« opinion of the fu- 
ture development of Turkey, and what part she 
would play in the event of trouble ever arising 
between the Triple Alliance and the triple under- 
standing. The incident took place in the spring of 
1913, about a week after I had arrived in Constan- 
tinople. We found ourselves smoking cigarettes 
together whilst we looked out over the Bosphorus 
after a dinner to which a society hostess had in- 
vited us. I did not attempt the experiment again. 
The diplomat's manner warned me it might be dan- 
gerous. His clear, serious eyes seemed to read one 
through, and he gave one the impression of hav- 
ing immediately divined the underlying motive for 
putting a leading question. I have been told, and 
I quite believe it, that when the European crisis 
arose, M. Bompard very nearly persuaded the Otto- 
man Government to remain neutral. Such an 
eventuality would have destroyed the years of pa- 
tient fostering of German interest and influence. 
Yet, notwithstanding all, at one moment it seemed 
imminent that Turkey would forget all that Ger- 
many had done for her, and in the face of well- 
defined moral obligations have remained passive at 
a moment when her adherence to all the protesta- 
tion of friendship she had made was vital. M. 
Bompard did not succeed. By expedients familiar 



100 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

to German diplomacy, Baron von Wangenheim 
turned the scales in favour of his country. 

I did not see much of Sir Louis Mallet, the repre- 
sentative of King George V. He had a great name 
for cleverness and boasted of considerable political 
experience, besides being a very amiable, pleasant, 
and agreeable man. He had the reputation, too, 
of being a keen observer. The German Emperor, 
I am aware, hated him, because, having had occa- 
sion to see Sir Louis in London, Sir Louis had 
been rude to him in the way of showing too plainly 
to William II. how very little value he placed on 
the protestations of friendship for England which 
the German sovereign boasted. 

Among other diplomats with whom I became ac- 
quainted at Constantinople, the Italian ambassador, 
the Marquis Garroni, was a perfect type. Though 
he occupied a post which was most important in 
view of the different questions still being discussed 
between Italy and Turkey, he did not seem to worry 
much about them, and took life most easily, which 
perhaps was the best thing he could do under the 
circumstances. I did not care much for him, and, 
besides, I had been warned in Berlin not to allow 
myself to be drawn into an intimacy with him, and 
especially recommended not to allow him to guess 
that the question of a German-Turkish alliance was 
or had ever been in question. 

Perhaps the only ambassador who could boast of 
perfect knowledge of Eastern life and Eastern poli- 
tics was the Dutch minister. Dr. van der Does de 



SIR LOUIS MALLET loi 

Villebois, who, thanks to his long sojourn in Egypt, 
which had preceded his appointment in Constanti- 
nople, had acquired an unrivalled experience that 
was to be envied concerning Oriental manners, cus- 
toms, and intrigues. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE SHEIKH-UL-ISLAM AND RELIGIOUS 

FANATICISM 

CONTRARY to the general belief, Turks, 
as a rule, are not fanatics; they show 
themselves so tolerant in religious matters 
that, with advantage, their example might be fol- 
lowed by a good many Christians. Legends which 
represent them as thirsting for the blood of the 
infidel are just legends and nothing more. The 
last war which took place between Turkey and 
Servia and Bulgaria proved with evidence that both 
parties were fighting for political supremacy, and 
not for the faith which they professed. And as for 
the atrocities committed during its course, they 
were performed by all parties without exception. 
The Bulgarians, for instance, pillaged and de- 
stroyed, and burned; they killed without discrimi- 
nation, and showed themselves as ferocious as they 
were pitiless. More than once the victims which 
they left behind them wherever they went were 
picked up and cared for by the Turks, whom they 
had tried to represent as merciless in regard to the 
Christians. 

In political matters the Turks are quite willing to 
h've and let live, but they do not admit any en- 

I02 



THE HOWLING DERVISHES 103 

croachment on the traditions which in bygone times 
made them great. They beheve that an hour will 
come when the crescent shall once more rise tri- 
umphant in countries where of old it reigned su- 
preme, and that the last day of Islam has not risen 
yet. They have a constant indignation at the servi- 
tude to which the followers of the prophet are con- 
demned in Egypt^ India, Central Asia, and French 
territory in Africa. This sentiment is genuine; 
they lament over it and weep over the degradation 
of their race and of their faith. In their religious 
fervour they have remained the same as of old; 
they are ever ready to respond to the call of those 
who know how to appeal to that trait in their char- 
acter. The fate of their country might under cer- 
tain circumstances have left them indifferent, whilst 
the danger of Islam will always succeed in rousing 
them either to great deeds or to strong actions. 

Lately, and especially since the accession of the 
present Sultan, those feelings came rather to the 
front owing to the influence of the Sheikh-ul-Islam 
and the leaders of the dancing and howling 
dervishes of Constantinople. In order to consoli- 
date his own position, Rechad felt himself compelled 
to stand up as the protector of all Moslems. The 
Emperor William, being made aware of this, had 
not neglected to wield influence in Constantinople 
through such channels. Unknown even to his own 
ambassadors, because it was only towards the end 
of his sojourn in Turkey that Baron von Marschall 
had become aware of it, he had entered into rela- 



104 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

tions with the Sheikh-ul-Islam. He had even been 
in correspondence with the sheikh of the howling 
dervishes, a personage of vast influence. The 
sheikh was a man already advanced in years, with 
a venerable countenance, whose austerity of life 
had brought him into great reputation among the 
poorer classes of Constantinople. At a sign thou- 
sands of people would follow him to the ends of the 
earth. A word uttered by him was sufficient to 
provoke or to appease a rebellion, and more than 
once his intervention had saved Abdul Hamid from 
the fate which only befell him because he had not 
sufficiently taken into account the importance of 
that leader of the religious party in Turkey, and 
had slighted him on several occasions. The sheikh 
was a most vindictive individual by nature, and 
he never forgot or forgave an injury. He had had 
occasion to ask Abdul Hamid to appoint one of 
his relatives as aide-de-camp to His Majesty. But 
Abdul did not care to have close to his person any- 
one belonging to the immediate surroundings of 
the sheikh, and refused the request in language of 
unnecessary violence. This was sufficient to set 
against him that august personage, and from that 
day his fate was sealed, and his deposition became 
a matter of time. 

The Emperor, who had been kept informed as 
to the smallest details connected with this quarrel, 
thought it opportune to interfere. It was only then 
that Baron von Marschall was ordered to go and 
pay personally his respects to the sheikh, and to 



OVERTURES TO WILLIAM II. 105 

discuss together with him certain questions inimi- 
cal to Abdul Hamid. In this way the Baron learned 
of what had long been in progress. Clever as he 
was, he had not suspected the secret, nor did he 
at first grasp its inner meaning. But when von 
Marschall was told later on to use his endeavours 
to cultivate the friendship of the Khedive of Egypt, 
who used to spend part of the summer in Con- 
stantinople, he began to understand what lay at 
the root of these assurances of friendship which 
the German Emperor was so eager to have trans- 
mitted to these people, whom he had never seen in 
his life, but whose co-operation he was so anxious 
to secure. 

Another powerful personage was the Sheikh-ul- 
Islam. Essad Effendi, who then occupied that im- 
portant position, was domineering by nature, but 
he had great intellectual faculties, a keen taste for 
intrigue, and the wish to be consulted in every im- 
portant political decision in which the interests of 
his country were concerned. He believed himself 
to be a leader of men, which he certainly was by 
virtue of the great religious power which he 
wielded. He disliked Abdul Hamid, more for the 
latter's cruelties than from any personal feeling, 
whilst he had always nursed a certain amount of 
pity for the miserable, persecuted Mehmed Rechad. 
It is not surprising, therefore, that he entered with 
alacrity into the conspiracy which aimed at dis- 
possessing the Sultan of his crown. Essad Effendi 
was generally liked, and even had few enemies. 



io6 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

His ambition was enormous, and he did not make 
a secret of the fact that he aspired to be the in- 
strument by which Moslems would at last be re- 
united under the sceptre of the Commander of the 
Faithful. 

It is not generally known that it was the Sheikh- 
ul-Islam who made overtures of friendship to the 
German Emperor, and not vice versa. He had been 
excessively impressed by the personality of Wil- 
liam II., and by the pomp which had attended his 
famous visit to Abdul Hamid. Essad Effendi, who 
was not Sheikh-ul-Islam at that time, formed a 
good idea of the strength of Turkey's new friend. 
He saw at once that with the exercise of a little 
diplomacy he might secure for himself, as well as 
for his country, the promise that, whatever hap- 
pened later on, neither he nor they would be for- 
saken by the Protestant monarch whose protection 
they had succeeded in winning. 

Essad Effendi, ever since the outbreak of the 
first Balkan war, had worked upon the mind of the 
Sultan and done his best to make Rechad enter into 
the spirit of the Mohammedan crusade which he 
preached. It was partly through his intervention 
that, when hostilities broke out between Germany 
and Russia, the Turkish Government ceased to keep 
secret its hostility in regard to the Russians. He 
played upon the ambition of Mehmed Rechad, and 
tried to inspire him with the desire to deliver his 
persecuted brothers and proclaim himself as head 
of a vast Moslem state which should include all 



COMBATING FAITHS 107 

Mohammedans in the world. Under the glamour 
of this influence the spirit of the Egyptian Mahdi 
began to stir in Essad's bosom. He dreamt of a 
day when he would be able to restore Egypt to 
its former position, and, being practical to an un- 
common degree, quite appreciated the advantage it 
would be to him to gain possession also of the Suez 
Canal. 

In the early days of the war, therefore, the Sul- 
tan, helped by the advice of the sheikh of the 
dervishes and of Essad Effendi, determined to 
make full use of this wonderful opportunity which 
was given to him so unexpectedly, and forthwith 
started to proclaim the Holy War against the in- 
fidels, causing to be displayed the green flag of 
the Prophet, an event almost unprecedented in the 
history of Turkey in modern times. 

The call was responded to with enthusiasm, and 
from all parts of Asia Minor and the Arabian Des- 
ert men came pouring in, eager to join the army 
that was being assembled to fight against the 
unbelievers. 

William II. rejoiced to find that his cherished 
hopes were on the way to fulfilment, and that if 
Italy abandoned him, Turkey would prove faith- 
ful. He knew that he had been suspected of in- 
triguing at Constantinople against the Tsar and 
against Russian influence, and it had always an- 
gered him to hear people making allusion to that 
fact, because he had always the fear that the ex- 
ample of Abdul Hamid might be imitated by his 



io8 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

brother and successor, and that at the crucial mo- 
ment the latter would hesitate to plunge his coun- 
try into such an adventure. He must, therefore, 
have rejoiced considerably when at last Mehmed 
Rechad decided to unfold the sacred banner of 
Islam against Orthodox Russia. 

It is a curious trick of circumstance that we be- 
hold the strange spectacle of Protestant Prussia 
fighting together with Moslem hosts against Cath- 
olic France, Buddhist Japan, Orthodox Greek Rus- 
sia, and Christian England. Amidst the many won- 
ders of an age of wonders it is one of the most 
interesting, and also, perhaps, one of the most dan- 
gerous, omens to the future peace of the world. 



CHAPTER IX 

KHEDIVE ABBAS HILMI 

IN an earlier chapter I made a passing refer- 
ence to the relations between Sultan Abaul 
Hamid and the young Khedive of Egypt. On 
my first Eastern visit I had occasion to go to Egypt 
from Constantinople, and there learned many in- 
teresting things. I knew earlier that as soon as 
he ascended the throne William II. did his best to 
cultivate the friendship of Moslem Egypt. Tewfik 
Pasha was still alive at that time, and he did not 
respond to the advances of Germany with as much 
readiness as might have been supposed or expected. 
He was a very shrewd man in spite of his appar- 
ent heaviness, and he was moreover entirely con- 
vinced that English influence and English interests 
were best for his country and himself. He realised 
that any attempt to throw off the English yoke 
would have the direst consequences. He therefore 
cultivated a spirit of absolute agreement with Lord 
Cromer, who at that time filled with much distinc- 
tion the delicate functions of English Agent-Gen- 
eral in Egypt. 

Lord Cromer appreciated the deference of the 
Khedive, and at the same time was very well aware 
of the considerable support Tewfik Pasha could 

109 



no THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

give against the intrigues of the so-called French 
party which aspired at the time to gain the upper 
hand in questions concerning the interior admin- 
istration of Egypt. This course on the part of 
Lord Cromer was well advised, as the French party 
was secretly supported by no less a personage than 
the famous Nubar Pasha, who was Prime Minister 
during the greater part of the reign of Tewfik. 
Under these conditions the advances of the young 
German Emperor encountered considerable cool- 
ness, and when he caused tentative inquiries to be 
made of certain members of the Egyptian native 
administration as to the degree of welcome a visit 
of his in Cairo would receive, the idea was met with 
distinct disapproval. 

Tewfik sought the advice of Lord Cromer, who 
found it easy to explain that it would be to the 
advantage of no one if the German engineers, who 
would undoubtedly have accompanied William IL, 
could have the opportunity to examine in detail 
all the improvements which England had in prog"- 
ress in order to facilitate the development of agri- 
culture in that country, and the different measures 
of safety which had been adopted to preserve the 
integrity of the Suez Canal. The Emperor was 
therefore given most respectfully and most courte- 
ously to understand that his arrival in Egypt would 
not be considered opportune, and the honour of his 
presence there was therefore declined with abun- 
dant thanks. 

This was all explained to me in a spirit of mali- 



A REBUFF TO WILLIAM 11. iii 

cious glee by an effendi who knew my nationality, 
and hoped to have the satisfaction of watching my 
discomfiture. I flatter myself that I successfully 
concealed my emotions. 

The incident was not without its value to me, 
as I was able to report to Berlin the underlying 
fears which had dictated the polite refusal. Later 
I was told that the knowledge did not please Em- 
peror William, who felt the affront very keenly. 
I would not do more than make the statement with 
all reserve, but I was definitely informed that the 
German Emperor has hated Lord Cromer ever 
since, and the hatred went so far that he actually 
inspired, and in one or two instances corrected with 
his own hand, newspaper articles in which the great 
English pro-consul was bitterly maligned. 

Concurrently with the permeation of Turkish 
ofificial circles with German influence, attempts were 
made to secure the sympathies of several people 
in Egypt who viewed with dissatisfaction the prog- 
ress of English influence. In due course, even 
among the Khedive's immediate surroundings, 
champions were secured who began to insinuate 
to Tewfik that after all he was allowed to play but 
little part in the government of his own country. 
This , was followed by the suggestion that if he 
would but let friends in other directions help him, 
he might wield far greater power and adopt a po- 
litical course unfettered by English control. 

Among these people was the Countess S , for 

something like half a century one of the most im- 



112 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

portant personages in Cairo society. A Russian 
by birth, married to an Italian, she was a clever, in- 
triguing woman who had ingratiated herself in the 
good graces of the Khedivah, or Vice Reine, and 
so obtained free access to the Khedivial harem. 
The Countess could be influenced in whatever di- 
rection the inducement was most tangible, and, 
strange to say, though a subject of the Tsar by 
birth, she acquired strong German sympathies. She 
became the stoutest supporter of the German Em- 
peror's policy in the East, 

Whether in the long run the Countess would 
have been allowed to continue her German intrigues 
remains a question, but she discovered that certain 
who were necessary to her success would not allow 
themselves to be deluded by her sophistry or 
tempted by her promises. Foremost among her 
declared enemies was a cousin of the KhedivCj, 
Princess Nazli, a remarkable woman, still charm- 
ing, though long past middle age, who had been 
one of the first champions of female emancipation 
in Turkey. In Egypt she partly succeeded in break- 
ing down the barriers. Except for the fact that 
she wore a yashmak and a feridgi when she went 
out, the Princess adopted entirely the life of a Eu- 
ropean lady of rank, even to the length of receiv- 
ing masculine visitors in her palace, without a veil 
hiding her features. She was devoted to England 
and everything English, and exceedingly fond of 
both Lord and Lady Cromer, who were frequent 
guests at her ancient Moorish palace in the old 



THE PRINCESS NAZLI 113 

quarters of Cairo. The Princess used to keep them 
very well posted as to all the different intrigues 
that were continually going on amidst the surround- 
ings of the weak and kind-hearted Khedive. 

She possessed a certain influence over her cou- 
sin, the Khedive, who, though secretly afraid of 
her, yet recognised her great and unmistakable 
qualities. Whether that influence would have been 
durable is a problem which remains unsolved, be- 
cause Tewfik Pasha died quite suddenly and un- 
expectedly, leaving his throne to a young boy. This 
lad had been bred in the atmosphere of his mother's 
harem, under the control of his mother's friends; 
he was strongly independent by nature, but as lim- 
ited in insight as he was in experience. 

When Abbas Hilmi became Khedive he at once 
proclaimed himself the protector of the independ- 
ent rights of Egypt, and made no secret of his dis- 
like of everything English. From the very outset 
he showed slavish deference toward the Sultan. 
He flattered Abdul Hamid and succeeded in in- 
gratiating himself in his good graces. This was 
no difficult matter, as the astute Abdul Hamid saw 
at once the use which he could make of the head- 
strong youth who, from the very first instant that 
he had succeeded his father, applied himself to defy 
England. Unfortunately, in order to do that with 
a chance of success it would have required a 
stronger man than Abbas Hilmi, who in the end 
had his pride humbled, first by Lord Cromer, then 
by Sir Eldon Gorst, and lastly by the next Agent, 



114 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Lord Kitchener. From the moment of Lord Kitch- 
ener's appointment the prestige of Abbas Hilmi be- 
gan to decrease almost hourly, until at last he came 
to be considered even by his own subjects as an 
automaton. 

This state of affairs was admittedly prejudicial 
to German interests, but it would not be faithful 
to history to suppress the facts simply because they 
were uncongenial to my friends at Wilhelmstrasse. 
The realisation of the struggling forces in Egypt 
caused a more persistent effort to be put forth to 
strengthen German influence. When, some few 
years after Abbas Hilmi came to the throne, Baron 
von Bieberstein was appointed to Constantinople, 
he was enjoined to establish intimate relations with 
the Khedive. Abdul Hamid, after his deposition, 
was also induced to take Abbas under his protec- 
tion. When Abdul Hamid was allowed to return 
to Constantinople, he aided Abbas Hilmi to a con- 
siderable extent out of private means which Abdul 
had given into the care of William II. But for 
that the extravagant Khedive would often have 
found himself financially embarrassed, because 
Lord Kitchener was inflexible in his refusal when- 
ever he was appealed to for an increase to the civil 
list. 

Abbas Hilmi could not fail to perceive the dif- 
ference in the treatment accorded to him by Eng- 
land on the one hand and by Turkey on the other. 
He, too, had it continually impressed upon him that 
Germany was a sympathising friend, and that the 




HussEix Kemal, Sultan of Egypt 



KHEDIVE AND LORD KITCHENER 115 

Emperor William's kindliness had much to do with 
Abdul's generosity. By gentle steps the Khedive 
was led along the path of discontent until, at last, 
he was persuaded that he was justified in giving 
over to Wilhelmstrasse all the plans for the defence 
of the Suez Canal, which, unknown to Lord Kitch- 
ener, he had appropriated to himself and brought 
over to Constantinople for safety. 

Once this diplomatic feat was accomplished, it 
became possible for Berlin to move in the direction 
of extending her influence among the followers of 
Islam. 

When the present war with Russia and with her 
allies broke out, I expected as a matter of course 
that Turkey would hasten to follow in the footsteps 
of Germany, and that the Egyptian question would 
be raised anew under conditions which would make 
it very hard for England to solve. Thanks to the 
care which Germany has given to the problem of 
the Suez Canal, it has been observed from all sides 
by innumerable German agents, and there are ac- 
complices both at Suez and at Port Said ready at 
any moment to throw off the cloak. 

In compliance with the wishes of the German 
Emperor, the secret efforts of German diplomacy 
and of the statesmen at Berlin have been directed 
toward one supreme aim — the wresting from Eng- 
land of the possession of Egypt as the one con- 
trolling power over the Suez Canal. In Wilhelm- 
strasse they were confident that once the canal were 
destroyed — and I have good reasons to fear that 



ii6 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

should the question of its occupation become doubt- 
ful its total destruction has long ago been decided 
upon — England would find herself so entirely hand- 
icapped in her trade and her commerce that it would 
become relatively easy to annihilate her altogether, 
or at least to render her incapable either of re- 
sistance or of expansion for a long time to come. 

The one difficulty which this plan presented was 
that of persuading Abbas Hilmi to accept it. The 
young Khedive was quite willing to do his best to 
reduce the power of England, but he did not in- 
tend in the least that his country should pass into 
the hands of another great Power, or of abdicat- 
ing one iota of the independence he thought he 
could secure. He could not be brought to an en- 
tire trust in the good faith of the Emperor Wil- 
liam. He did not trust the Sultan Mehmed Rechad 
either, because he knew that he was but a tool in 
the hands of Enver Pasha, and that Enver Pasha 
would have given much to be elected Khedive of 
Egypt. 

Out of this welter of intrigue it was forced upon 
me that the young Khedive, who had alienated him- 
self from his real friends and played with those 
who professed good-will for the sake of making a 
tool of him, was drawing to the conclusion that 
the day was approaching when he would fall be- 
tween stools, as the English expression has it. The 
fact was that the removal of the young Khedive 
was felt to have become a necessity, even by those 
who were still making use of him. The German 



A WELTER OF INTRIGUE 117 

Emperor had grasped the untrustworthy character 
of his tool, and was perfectly aware that, after 
having played the English and Lord Kitchener 
false. Abbas Hilmi would never hold faith with 
him or keep the engagements into which he had 
entered simply in order to obtain money. The Sul- 
tan Rechad was worried by him and, besides, had 
been warned against him; Abdul Hamid was tired 
of the perpetual demands for money with which he 
ivas bothered ; and Enver Pasha considered him as 
the great obstacle between him and his conquest of 
the province which he coveted. 

My own feeling on the matter of the Suez Canal 
is that its possession would not benefit Germany 
in the least, and that those in highest places in Ber- 
lin are blinded by feelings of mere covetousness and 
rivalry. On the contrary, I am satisfied it would 
be a bad day for the German Emperor if Fate gave 
the canal into his possession. It would add nothing 
to our prosperity or to our welfare. First, it would 
become the source of perpetual strifes and annoy- 
ances, as England would never resign herself to its 
loss ; then France also would find in the appropria- 
tion of the great thoroughfare of the world by Ger- 
many a pretext for renewed attacks against her; 
Russia and Japan, who are interested in the com- 
mercial side of the question, would undoubtedly 
insist on the neutralisation of the canal. These 
seem to me to be some of the logical outcomes. 
The end of the matter might be the blowing up of 
the canal by Turkey, who would thus solve the 



ii8 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

question of its possession. No! Germany has 
muddled things in this direction, and, in my opinion, 
will have to pay bitterly for her overreaching 
diplomacy. 




Abbas Hilmi, the Ex-Khedive 



CHAPTER X 

EMPEROR WILLIAM AND THE TSAR 

THE reference in the previous chapter to 
the designs nourished in BerHn for secur- 
ing possession of the Suez Canal leads me 
to recall the astonishment which gripped the few 
statesmen and diplomatic officials who learned of 
the secret suggestions made by William H. to Nich- 
olas II. Naturally, such matters are not accessible 
to all who may wish to know, but few state secrets 
can be entirely hidden from the confidential ser- 
vants of the Empire. This was a personal corre- 
spondence, but nevertheless its general purport was 
known to one or two of the Emperor William's 
most trusted advisers, who used their best en- 
deavours to dissuade their headstrong ruler. But 
he was superbly certain that no man was adamant 
to the appeal of ambition, that no monarch would 
allow ethical considerations to stand in the way of 
territorial expansion and greater power. When 
the Emperor Nicholas paid his famous visit to Ber- 
lin on the occasion of the marriage of the Kaiser's 
only daughter to the present Duke of Brunswick, 
he was received there with an extraordinary cour- 
tesy and enthusiasm, and the Berlin Court tried to 
persuade him that his presence on such a momen^ 

119 



120 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

tous occasion was far more appreciated than that 
of King George and his gracious consort. 

When taking leave of his illustrious guest at the 
railway station, the Emperor William shook his 
hand with such apparent sincerity that the Tsar 
could really be excused if he imagined that from 
that day the relations between the houses of Hohen- 
zollern^ and Romanoff would resume their former 
intimate friendliness. 

When, however, the last guests had taken their 
departure, and the bride herself had left for her 
new home, the Kaiser began once more to turn his 
attention to foreign politics. 

Though he had shown himself excessively at- 
tentive to the King and Queen of England, he had 
tried to avoid any serious conversation with George 
v., whose common sense and straightforwardness 
had never appealed to his cousin of Prussia. At 
that moment the Balkan War, or rather the Balkan 
crisis, had reached its culminating point. Austria, 
who, by the way, had carefully abstained from 
sending any official representative to the wedding 
festivities in Berlin, was pressing her German ally 
to interfere in favour of her schemes affecting Ser- 
via and Bulgaria. In Roumania the King, faithful 
to the wise line of expectant politics he had always 
followed with such success, was waiting for the sig- 
nal from Berlin to come out either In the character 
of a belligerent or of a mediator, whilst, in Bul- 
garia, Ferdinand was making no secret of his in- 



TEMPTING THE TSAR 121 

tention to obtain for himself all the advantages of 
a situation he had done his best to muddle. 

This, then, was the situation when the episode of 
the Jmperial correspondence had its beginnings. It 
was not a propitious time for William 11. to think 
of war; as yet he was unprepared. On the other 
hand, the presence in Berlin of his British cousins 
had only aggravated the feelings of deep dislike 
which he entertained toward them, and something 
in the quiet dignity of King George, and the sense 
of security which he seemed to carry about with 
him, had exasperated the Emperor. Nicholas II. 
is habitually nervous at Court functions, and the 
Emperor William deceived himself that so restless 
a temperament would also be unstable in character. 
Accordingly, William II. felt there would be little 
opposition to proposals which he had in mind — a 
scheme the success of which would mean the hum- 
bling of England. 

When the Tsar returned to Tsarskoye Selo, he 
expressed himself highly pleased with his visit to 
Berlin. He even told Count Pourtales, at that time 
German Ambassador at the Russian Court, that he 
had enjoyed himself far more than he had expected, 
and that he would always think with gratitude of 
the kindness he had experienced during his trip, 
not only from the Emperor William, but also from 
the people of Berlin. Count Pourtales transmitted 
to the Kaiser the words of his Imperial cousin, and 
William II. then decided to act. 

It was in July or August of the same year — 1913, 



122 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

as the reader will remember — that a special mes- 
senger brought to Peterhof, where the Russian Im- 
perial family was spending its summer holiday, an 
holograph letter from the German sovereign ad- 
dressed to the Tsar. It was written in the most 
friendly tone, and pointed out that if the peace of 
the world were to be maintained it was absolutely 
necessary to put an end to the constantly recurring 
agitation in the Balkans and to curb the ambition 
of all the small states of the peninsula, ambition 
which, in the case of Servia and Bulgaria, was 
threatening to assume most dangerous proportions. 
This letter also charged England with intrigue. 
That country, it said, was only waiting for the op- 
portunity to annex Egypt, and was doing her best 
to entangle the Sultan in a web of difficulties, during 
which she would be able to wrest from him the nom- 
inal suzerainty exercised by the latter over that 
country. And, referring as if incidentally to the 
close friendship which united the Commander of 
the Faithful and himself, the German Emperor 
went on to suggest a common action having for its 
object the checking of English ambition, and at the 
same time achieving the secretly long-cherished de- 
sires of Russia to obtain possession of the Straits 
of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles in exchange 
for her passive acquiescence in a combined action 
of the German and Turkish fleets against Egypt. 
The purport of this memorable letter was : 

Russia will not have accomplished the task she 
has been entrusted with by Providence until she 



PAINTING THE PICTURE 123 

has become absolute mistress of the Black Sea. So 
long as England has a word to say in the question, 
she will oppose that legitimate ambition by all 
means in her power or at her discretion. England, 
who has always posed as the friend of Turkey, will 
support her only so long as she maintains an atti- 
tude of hostility toward Russia. Otherwise, Eng- 
land, with amazing alacrity, will leave her to the 
tender mercies of her enemies. England is support- 
ing King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, and encouraging 
him in his dreams of becoming one day Eastern 
Emperor, with Byzantium as his capital. The mo- 
ment this comes to pass, Russia's day is over. She 
will remain a second-rate Power, strangled by its 
own immensity, and deprived of her vital southern 
outlet on the sea. She will find herself at the mercy 
of every adventurer and exposed to the greatest 
dangers from her neighbours. Now, should Russia 
see her own interests and consent to enter into an 
alliance with the Sultan, co-operating with him and 
with Germany in an action tending to neutralise the 
Suez Canal, and to hand it over to a European Com- 
mission, who would be entrusted with the task of 
preventing it from ever becoming a military base 
for any other than the Turkish army, she might 
obtain in exchange the neutralisation of the Straits 
for all Powers with the exception of herself. 

When these desirable consummations were at- 
tained, continued the astonishing document, Con- 
stantinople would remain the residence of the Sul- 
tan, but be placed also under European control, 



124 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

whilst the capital of Turkey would be transferred 
to Brusa, on the Asiatic side of the Dardanelles. 
Thus Russia would become the sole mistress of the 
Black Sea, and find herself able to control entirely 
the policy of the Balkan States. She might in time 
annex Bulgaria, and she would hold Servia in 
check. At the same time, England being put out 
of the running, the estabHshment of a permanent 
peace in the Balkan Peninsula, which was next to 
impossible as things stood, would be in a fair way 
to become accomplished. 

Before the Emperor William II. had ventured to 
propose that amazing scheme to the Tsar, he had 
carefully arranged with the Sultan that the Suez 
Canal, while placed under a so-called European 
Commission, would in reality be put under German 
management. So definite, indeed, was the agree- 
ment that plans for the re- fortification of the canal 
were already prepared by German officers, and had 
been submitted to the Sultan for his confirmation. 
In this carefully planned conspiracy everything had 
been foreseen ; only one thing was needed — and that 
depended upon the honesty and the loyalty of Nich- 
olas II. 

The Russian sovereign did not reply at once to 
this remarkable message. When he did so, after 
some days had passed, his answer was a proof of 
the entire straightforwardness of his character. 
He thanked his Imperial cousin for his communi- 
cation, and then proceeded to explain that he was 
bound by an agreement which had for its aim the 



WHAT NICHOLAS 11. SAID 125 

furtherance of good relationship between the two 
countries over which he and King George were rul- 
ing. Nicholas 11. continued that he felt convinced 
the British Government would never break the en- 
gagements it had entered upon, and that certainly 
he could not on his side fail to keep faith. He 
added that, though Russia might wish for the pos- 
session of the Straits, yet she would never desire 
to get them under her control at the price of any 
action that might be construed as treasonable. Be- 
sides, Russia wanted peace, and if she lent herself 
to such a scheme as that outlined, it was going to 
open the door to all kinds of complications, and as- 
suredly lead to war. As to the value of the sug- 
gestions in regard to the benefit it was thought 
would accrue, he personally failed to see in what 
aspect the general political situation of Europe 
would change by England being driven out of 
Egypt. Turkey was not strong enough to govern 
that country alone, and it could hardly be handed 
over to any other Power without leading to all sorts 
of quarrels and strife. The danger of war, there- 
fore, instead of being diminished, would be in- 
creased. 

It would be very much better, in his opinion, to 
insist collectively on Turkey, as well as on Servia 
and Bulgaria, laying down arms and submitting 
their differences to the arbitration of a conference. 
He expressed the certain hope that the various am- 
bassadors in London would be equal, even, to that 
difficult task, and would carry it through to a happy 



126 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

end. The Tsar concluded his reply with the remark 
that the programme outlined by William 11. was 
undignified for any Christian Power to embark 
upon, and that he would consider himself dishon- 
oured by lending his hand to such an enterprise. 

When William II. received this reply his feelings 
can be imagined. I am aware that it caused an im- 
mediate change of course, for after a few months 
I was the bearer of a letter to the late Archduke 
Franz Ferdinand. This communication was quite 
simple on the surface, merely suggesting a friendly 
visit to Ferdinand in the near future. From the 
Archduke and the Duchess of Hohenberg I brought 
back a cordial invitation, and in due time — ^which, 
however, was not until May, 19 14 — the German 
Emperor paid a visit to the heir to the throne of 
Austria-Hungary at the Castle of Konopischt in 
Bohemia. 



CHAPTER XI 

KING CAROL OF ROUMANIA 

WILLIAM 11. always felt great respect 
for King Carol of Roumania, who had 
been a close friend of the Emperor 
Frederick, the father of the German Emperor. 
King Carol had the reputation of being one of the 
wisest monarchs in Europe. During the many 
years in which he occupied the Roumanian throne 
he proved a model sovereign and contrived to steer 
safely among very troubled waters, and not only 
to remain in possession of his throne, but also to 
consolidate his dynasty. Alone among the Balkan 
sovereigns, he kept aloof from the various intrigues 
which had troubled the peninsula. Since the war 
of 1877 against Turkey he had not drawn his sword, 
and succeeded to a certain degree in imposing peace 
upon his neighbours when they had proved trouble- 
some and tried to persuade him to mix himself up 
in their quarrels. In 191 3 it was mainly through 
his exertions and owing to his firm attitude in re- 
gard to Bulgaria that King Ferdinand consented to 
listen to reason, and to accept the rather hard con- 
ditions of the Treaty of Bucharest. When Russia 
was on the point of interfering in that question, it 
was also the King of Roumania who warned her 
of the serious consequences of such a step. Had 

127 



128 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

he only been listened to, it is probable that the war 
which broke out in July, 19 14, might have been 
avoided, or at least postponed for some time. 
Among modern rulers and statesmen the figure of 
Carol I. stands out as one of the most remarkable. 
He was a man of principles, straightforward, hon- 
est, true, sincere in all he said and did. When he 
accepted the throne of Roumania he was still a 
young man, and at that time no one believed his 
tenure would be long. Before he had decided to 
risk the adventure he consulted Prince von Bis- 
marck, asking him what he ought to do. Bismarck 
replied that he might try it, as it would always con- 
stitute for him "a pleasant remembrance." The 
remark was not encouraging, and many men more 
experienced than this younger scion of the House 
of Hohenzollern might have hesitated before the 
risk of such an enterprise. Not so King Carol. 
He arrived at Bucharest simply as Prince Carol of 
Roumania, a vassal and dependant of the Sultan, 
whose suzerainty over the turbulent little principal- 
ity was not then disputed. 

This event took place in 1866, just before the vic- 
torious campaign which Prussia had conducted with 
such skill against the forces of Austria. Sadowa 
was fought between the day of the election of 
Prince Charles of Hohenzollern and that of the 
acknowledgment of his position as ruler of Rou- 
mania by the great European Powers. He arrived 
in his new country with more determination than 
ambition. Not easily would he be driven out. He 



KING CAROL AND FINANCE 129 

possessed tact to an even greater extent than cour- 
age; he was shrewd more than agile of intellect, 
and manifested abundant strength of will. He was 
always particularly interested in the progress of 
science, art, and literature, and made a study of 
social questions. Undoubtedly he did much to im- 
prove and to develop the resources of his country 
of adoption. 

When he arrived in Roumania he at once ap- 
preciated its vast possibilities. He became the first 
business man of his new Fatherland, and scarcely 
any commercial enterprise was started in Roumania 
without his having a finger in the financial pie. He 
speculated, he built railways, factories; he became 
a shareholder in industrial concerns in his adopted 
country and elsewhere ; he encouraged foreign cap- 
ital to establish itself in Bucharest, and he devel- 
oped the riches and the economical life of Rou- 
mania to an extent which astonished some of the 
strongest and cutest financial heads in Europe. 
When he died he left something like fifty millions, 
according to official records, and in reality a great 
deal more. 

The financial genius of King Carol was provided 
with an outlet for the riches he accumulated in his 
epicurean love of the beautiful. He spent fortunes 
to gratify his taste for the exquisite, and grew to 
look with more than affection on his growing 
wealth. This fact explains, perhaps, why the policy 
of Roumania remained so constantly a pacific one. 
The King, who thought more of the fate of his own 



130 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

personal fortune, dreaded nothing more than to see 
it compromised. He was well aware that even a 
successful war, if it did not stop altogether, would 
at least considerably delay the commercial expan- 
sion of the kingdom over which he ruled with such 
tact and ability. He did not care for military lau- 
rels, being wise enough to recognise their utter 
emptiness. If he had been offered the possession 
of Constantinople with the title of Emperor, it is 
probable that he would have declined the honour, 
but at the same time he would have taken active 
steps to prevent anyone else than the Sultan being 
so denominated. When his neighbour at Sofia de- 
veloped the sudden desire to wrest St. Sophia from 
the Sultan, Carol at once not only refused Ferdi- 
nand his co-operation and support in that enter- 
prise, but declared that he would oppose it by all 
means in his power. He foresaw that the equilib- 
rium of the Balkan Peninsula would be disturbed 
by the expansion of any of the small nationalities, 
and wisely and astutely meant to keep the balance 
of power in his own hands so long as he lived. 

He was honest in his way, if honesty consists in 
keeping one's word and of never by any means 
doing a wrong which was liable to be found out. 
But he was also a cynical, weary, disillusioned man, 
who hastened to laugh at everything, not the least 
cause of amusement being the way in which the 
world took him at his own valuation and gave him 
its confidence. 

With a character of that kind, it was pretty cer- 




Carol I of Roumania 



CAROL I. AS COUNSELLOR 131 

tain that an adventure, be it a political or a war- 
like one, was not to be feared; and, whilst King 
Carol of Roumania lived, most of the statesmen 
who had the responsibilities of the affairs of Eu- 
rope in general could rely on his helping them to 
unravel the knot of many difficulties. Even Wil- 
liam IL more than once had recourse to him in one 
or other of the scrapes which he periodically got 
into during the early days of his reign. Carol I. 
listened to him with an unvarying attention, and 
generally succeeded in giving him thoroughly 
sound advice, which enabled William IL to minimise 
and counteract evil effects that might easily have 
resulted from his imprudences. The King was es- 
sentially of a sympathising nature, though he could 
hardly have been termed a sympathetic man. There 
was far too much coldness in his manners, and he 
was excessively caustic. His very politeness ap- 
peared sometimes to be more studied than real, 
though at the same time it was thoroughly genu- 
ine, proceeding from the habits and customs in 
which he had been reared. He had learned the 
great art not to seem bored at anything that others 
might have to tell him, and this had won him much 
popularity with the other crowned heads of Eu- 
rope, as well as among his own subjects. 

When at his castle of Sinaia he allowed any peas- 
ant or labourer to approach him and to talk to him 
about their crops or vines. He was equally at ease 
in the part of a gentleman farmer as in that of a 
gravely attentive monarch granting an audience to 



132 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

this or that minister eager to explain to him diffi- 
cult political questions interesting to him as well as 
to others. He was essentially an adaptive man, con- 
tent everywhere and in every position in which he 
found himself, fully alive to the value of the good 
things of this earth. He did not fear death, being 
satisfied that he was entitled to a seat of honour 
in the next world. This quaint persuasion contrib- 
uted a great deal to the serenity with which he con- 
templated the final dissolution. 

From the very first day of his arrival at Bucha- 
rest, King Carol meant to obtain the royal crown 
of Roumania. It is likely that he would not have 
joined Russia in 1877, when she attacked Turkey 
for the apparent reason of delivering Bulgaria 
from its yoke, had he not foreseen that the trans- 
formation of Roumania into a kingdom would be 
the inevitable reward that his conduct would en- 
title him to claim. He had, indeed, prepared him- 
self for that contingency, and given careful atten- 
tion to the training of his troops, whose help had 
proved invaluable to the Tsar. Like a true Hohen- 
zollern, he had directed his efiforts toward the es- 
tablishment of Roumania as the dominant military 
power of the Balkan peninsula, and he succeeded. 

The prize, however, did not come quite so quickly 
as he had expected owing to various circumstances, 
among which may be counted the stubborn opposi- 
tion of Prince von Bismarck. He was not pro- 
claimed king until four years after the war of 1877, 
and then only after he had spent considerable sums 



A CAUSTIC LETTER 133 

out of his private purse for the purpose of obtain- 
ing the favourable votes. It had not been so easy 
as Carol I. had expected to convert Roumania into 
a monarchy. Bismarck hated the idea; he did not 
like Carol, perhaps because he knew that King 
Carol was one of the few men in the world who 
did not fear him. This displeased Bismarck thor- 
oughly. He could never bring himself to be cor- 
dial to the new monarch of Roumania. Thus he 
committed one of his gravest errors, because Carol 
I., appreciating the worth of the foe with whom he 
had to deal, hastened, after William II. ascended 
the throne, to sympathise with the young Emperor's 
revolts against the authority of the great minister 
who for so long had been solely responsible for the 
policy of Prussia. King Carol, indeed, encouraged 
William in his desire to get rid of Bismarck. It 
is not generally known that, before dismissing 
Prince Bismarck, the young Emperor wrote to the 
King of Roumania asking him what he ought to do, 
complaining at the same time of the overbearing 
temper of his Chancellor. Carol I., as I happened 
to learn, replied most diplomatically in the follow- 
ing terms to his Imperial nephew: "I cannot ad- 
vise you in the matter to which you refer ; it is for 
you only to decide; other people cannot interfere, 
but if I were in your place I should like always to 
be the master in my own house." This letter sealed 
the fate of the great man who, by his skill and in- 
telligence, had founded the German Empire. 

This circumstance created between the two rulers 



134 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

a very powerful secret bond, one which William, 
later on, would have given much to have Carol for- 
get. He had confided in Carol at this important 
crisis of his life as a sovereign, on one of those im- 
pulses to which he was so often subject and which 
he invariably regretted. King Carol, however, was 
far too clever and far too cautious to show that he 
remembered the curcumstance, but at the same 
time he contrived that William 11. should never 
forget it. Whenever any European complication 
occurred, he interfered in it by entering at once 
into an amicable correspondence with the Emperor, 
and by making him feel that, since he had once 
asked his advice in one of the most important mo- 
ments in his existence, he was welcome to do it 
always. 

This attitude was a beneficial factor in the peace 
of Europe, because the influence of the King, which 
William II. could not very well ignore, was always 
an excellent one, and his tact contributed greatly 
toward clearing certain international difficulties 
which now and then arose to trouble the political 
horizon of Europe. The Roumanian sovereign, it 
must not be forgotten, was also a Hohenzollern, 
and had cherished the clannish feeling of that house 
in regard to its chief and to its own race; his father- 
land was Germany, and Roumania remained but 
an incident in his life. Latterly, however, the un- 
necessarily aggressive attitude of Germany did not 
meet with his approval, and he began to transfer 
his affections to Russia. He had done his best to 



CAROL I. AND RUSSIA 135 

get his relative out of the multifarious scrapes in 
which he had found himself so often involved. 
Perhaps he had worked too energetically toward 
that result, for his efforts had produced a certain 
impatience in the mind of William 11. An unfor- 
tunate effect of his reliance on King Carol was that 
it had rather impressed William II. with the con- 
viction that he had always at hand one who could 
effectively repair his mistakes. As a consequence 
the ruler of Roumania watched with considerable 
anxiety the career of his enterprising relative, and 
latterly had not displayed the same readiness to put 
things right. King Carol had become alarmed at 
the anti-English feelings developing in the breast 
of William II. The political and diplomatic expe- 
rience of Carol I. was too extensive not to make 
him realise that a coalition of Russia, France, and 
England against Germany might have disastrous 
results for the Empire of the Hohenzollerns, and 
he did not care for the possibility of the Hohenzol- 
lern dynasty being overthrown. 

These considerations had made him look with 
uneasiness and apprehension on the aggressive pol- 
icy that Germany had entered upon, and had, prac- 
tically, also imposed upon her ally, Austria-Hun- 
gary. King Carol had never approved of the an- 
nexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the realm 
of the Habsburgs, and had warmly admired the 
wise conduct of Russia in regard to that question. 
The attitude of the Petersburg cabinet had pleased 
him so much that, as hinted, he had begun to con- 



136 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

sider seriously the possibility of a rapprochement 
with Russia. He found a ready collaborator in the 
Russian minister at his Court, a young diplomat 
-of unusual ability, M. Schebeko, who had at once 
g-rasped the immense consequences of inducing the 
Bucharest cabinet to look with favouring eyes upon 
the policy and the plans of the triple understanding 
between Russia, France, and Britain. In his en- 
thusiasm for the idea, however, M. Schebeko some- 
times carried his zeal too far, and this led to cer- 
tain frictions that might have been avoided had 
Russia proceeded with the same caution employed 
by King Carol. 

When the Tsar conferred the rank of a field- 
marshal in the Russian army upon the Roumanian 
sovereign, it was felt that a great step forward had 
been made. Russian policy in the Balkans, and in- 
deed everywhere else, had thereby gained an im- 
portant auxiliary in the person of the wise and gen- 
erally respected monarch. When, thanks to cer- 
tain feminine interventions, matters had so far pro- 
gressed that the possibility of an alliance between 
the Romanoffs and the Roumanian dynasty began 
to be mentioned, the different European cabinets 
thought it was time to watch with more than usual 
curiosity everything that was going on at Bucha- 
rest, especially as King Carol, though known to 
be in more than indifferent health, was neverthe- 
less not suspected to be in so grave a condition as 
subsequently proved to be the case. 

At that particular moment the King of Rou- 




Ferdinand I of Roumania 



BERCHTOLD BECOMES ALARMED 137 

mania was enjoying the confidence and respect of 
continental sovereigns as well as of their respon- 
sible advisers, of the Sultan and all the different 
political parties in Turkey, and also throughout the 
Balkans. After the tragic death of King George 
of Greece it was to his experience that finally all 
questions pending between the Balkanic States 
were referred, and the idea that he might be in- 
clined to accept the opinions of Russia, and to ap- 
prove of them, could not fail to arouse intense 
emotion as well as a certain degree of anxiety 
everywhere. 

More particularly was this apprehension felt at 
Vienna. Count Berchtold grew so alarmed at this 
development that he ventured to ask King Carol 
whether his friendliness toward Austria had un- 
dergone a change. The King replied with his usual 
caution that he would always concentrate his ef- 
forts in maintaining peace. The answer satisfied 
no one, and least of all the Emperor William, to 
whom it v^as immediately communicated. 

This situation saw the beginning of German in- 
trigue against Roumania, and William II. found 
an unexpected ally in a lady who stood in close 
relationship to the Russian Empress, and who, 
having the opportunity to see the Imperial family 
almost daily, was induced to work upon the mind 
of the oldest daughter of the Tsar and to persuade 
her that she would do better to remain in her own 
country than to marry the heir-presumptive to the 
Roumanian throne. Another area of German ac- 



138 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

tivity was found in fostering the ambitions of King 
Ferdinand of Bulgaria. 

The marriage of the Duchess of Brunswick took 
place while these matters were developing, and cre- 
ated in the mind of William II. the thought of ap- 
pealing to the Emperor of Russia and to allow 
himself to be induced to look with indifferent eyes 
upon the wresting of Egypt and the Suez Canal 
from Great Britain. The details are already 
known to us. 

King Carol — who was consulted — ^was very 
quickly alive to the utter insanity of the plan, and 
he forthwith replied to his Imperial relative not to 
think any more about such impossible things. In 
the spring of 1914 King Carol sent his nephew and 
heir to Petersburg, together with his consort and 
their eldest son. The visit did not lead to the result 
which had been hoped for, as the young Grand 
Duchess Olga would not consent to wed into the 
Roumanian royal family. The Emperor William 
congratulated himself that he had obtained a de- 
cided success in that quarter, and the fact that he 
thought so reached the ears of King Carol, who 
expressed his displeasure in a most decided manner. 

It was at this juncture that I was ordered to re- 
pair to Bucharest with a letter from my sovereign 
addressed to the King of Roumania, which gave 
rise to a curious conversation which I shall refer 
to in a later chapter. 

My visit did not lead to much, and certainly it 
did not change anything in the international com- 



M. SAZONOV VISITS KING CAROL 139 

plications which suddenly seemed to spring from 
every side. All the efforts of the King of Rou- 
mania, all his appeals and advices tendered at 
Vienna, as well as in Petersburg, came to nothing, 
and did not even delay the crisis. When the Em- 
peror and Empress of Russia had paid their famous 
visit to Constanza, in the beginning of June of last 
year, it was believed that it would lead to an ulti- 
mate Russo-Roumanian alliance, directed, if not 
against Austria, at least against the ever-growing 
ambition of King Ferdinand of Bulgaria. This 
supposition also came to nothing. Carol I. did not 
desire to bind himself at a juncture when he in- 
stinctively felt his neutrality would be more useful 
to the cause of peace. He received his Russian 
guests with the utmost politeness, but he made M. 
Sazonov understand that he could not enter into 
any serious conversations. 

M. Sazonov was not strong enough to insist on 
an immediate solution of a question which was of 
such vital importance to the future policy of Rus- 
sia in the Balkans, and the interview of Constanza 
ended in disappointment. 

Before two months elapsed Germany and Russia 
were at war. The conflagration that wise King 
Carol had worked all his life to prevent broke forth, 
and at its very beginning the Roumanian monarch, 
whose restraining influence would have been so in- 
valuable when peace terms came to be discussed, 
suddenly passed away, and one of the most im- 
portant factors in European politics vanished. 



CHAPTER XII 

IMPRESSIONS OF BUCHAREST 

IN the course of my duties I had made one short 
stay at Bucharest in the year 1882, and when 
I returned there in the early months of 19 14 
I found the city decidedly improved. It had lost 
its Oriental tinge, and had become quite European. 
Large boulevards, splendid shops, and more music 
halls than ever had come into being. Altogether, 
Bucharest had a particularly prosperous air. I 
wrote at once to King Carol's aide-de-camp to ask 
for the honour of an interview with His Majesty, 
adding that I had arrived that same morning from 
Berlin. I learned in reply that the King was at 
his castle of Sinaia, in the Carpathian Mountains, 
but that he should be advised at once of my coming. 
I was also told that the Crown Prince and Princess 
Ferdinand were in town, and would be glad to see 
me. This was, of course, a command which I has- 
tened to obey. 

I found the heir-presumptive an extremely hand- 
some, amiable man, with pleasant manners, a good 
carriage, and an interesting conversation. He 
seemed to be in possession of strong personal ideas 
in everything, but one who would refrain from air- 
ing them unless compelled to do so. We talked 

140 



PRINCE FERDINAND OF ROUMANIA 141 

about Berlin, where he had spent some of his early- 
years; of London, which he declared he liked ex- 
ceedingly, and of England. He strongly admired 
the English system of government, while at the 
same time owning quite frankly that it would not 
be applicable anywhere else. I tried to make Prince 
Ferdinand tell me his impressions about his recent 
journey to Russia, but he adroitly changed the con- 
versation. In general he appeared to have won- 
derful self-control and enough presence of mind to 
be able safely to extricate himself from difficult or 
embarrassing situations. 

He did not seem to be at all tired of his position 
as heir to the throne, and, if anything, rather shy 
at the thought of his future responsibilities — a state 
not often to be noticed in future sovereigns. On 
the contrary, he appeared to me to be very much at- 
tached to his uncle, whose health gave him genuine 
anxiety. 

We spoke about the recent Balkan War, and he 
told me that the Roumanian army had been quite 
ready to start on a campaign, but by the King's wis- 
dom such a misfortune had been spared to the coun- 
try. He produced upon me the impression that he 
was a very sympathetic man, fully alive to the 
duties which awaited him, and keenly anxious to do 
the right thing. My feeling was that he was too 
serious for such a relatively young man, and I 
could not refrain from making a remark to that ef- 
fect. He laughingly replied that when one was old 
enough to be a grandfather and had grown-up 



142 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

sons and daughters, it was about time to be serious. 

The Crown Princess, without possessing a regu- 
lar type of beauty, was pretty and fascinating. 
Most elegant in her carriage and bearing, she had 
a queenly look which gave her a regal dignity bereft 
of either hauteur or pride. One could see at once 
that she was conscious of her high position, but that 
she did not feel vain of it. Her conversation was 
brilliant, and touched upon almost every subject of 
current interest. There was much piquancy in her 
talk, and one noticed that she appreciated admira- 
tion. She certainly did not talk of her children with 
the same strong affection which her husband had 
manifested when referring to them, but one could 
see at a glance that she was a tender as well as a 
devoted wife. There was an English look about 
her which was very pleasant, but which explained 
the latent hostility with which the German Emperor 
usually referred to her, especially in recent times. 
Altogether, she was a most attractive being, with 
enough feminine charm to produce an impression 
which could not fail to attract. 

I had also the opportunity to talk with the Prime 
Minister, who at the same time held the portfolio 
of Foreign Affairs. M. T. Majoresco had presided 
over the conference which formulated the Treaty 
of Bucharest, that had put an end, for some time 
at least, to the Balkan trouble. He is, perhaps, the 
most capable minister in Roumania, a pleasant com- 
panion, and a man singularly endowed with tact, 
and possessed of a keen political instinct. The 



A TALK WITH M. MAJORESCO 143 

King appreciated him as he deserved, but, it seemed 
to me, never quite trusted him. This, however, 
must not be taken as a disparagement, because, so 
far as I could make out, King Carol trusted no one. 
Few knew his personal likes and dislikes, or his 
private opinions and intentions. M. Majoresco dis- 
cussed the political situation with me, and I was 
very much struck with the fact that he viewed the 
future with considerable apprehension, particularly 
with regard to Germany. It was evident he did not 
care to say all that he thought about the subject, 
especially with one who, like myself, was supposed 
to enjoy the confidence of those in highest places 
in Berlin, but one could see that he knew more than 
he cared to admit. He was ardently patriotic, but 
he was just as evidently an ambitious statesman 
who was calculating in his mind the personal hon- 
our he might win from a clever manipulation of 
the affairs of his country at that particular mo- 
ment of its existence. He struck me as a man of 
strong personality, who was by no means Bismarck- 
ian in his politics. He would not have walked over 
the dead bodies of his own convictions. 

I spent but two days in Bucharest trying to as- 
certain something tangible as to the feelings of the 
Roumanians and their possible attitude in case of a 
European eruption. My impression was that the 
latter would entirely depend on the King, who alone 
represented public opinion in Roumania. 

I would have liked to remain a little longer in 
the Roumanian capital, and felt rather sorry when 



144 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

a message arrived from the King requesting my im- 
mediate attendance at the castle of Sinaia, in the 
Carpathian Mountains. In this lovely residence 
which he had built for himself, and embellished 
with fastidious taste, King Carol generally spent 
the summer season. When I arrived there I was 
received by the Queen, the celebrated Carmen 
Sylva, who welcomed me with that charm she alone 
possesses and which makes her such a remarkably 
attractive personality. She explained that the King 
was not in the castle at the moment. 

Queen Elizabeth of Roumania, though an old 
woman and despite her many trials and sorrows, 
had kept the smile and lovely eyes which had made 
the Princess Elisabeth of Wied such a fascinating 
girl. Her great mental gifts have never been ques- 
tioned, and though her eccentricities had given rise 
to a certain amount of ridicule, she was acknowl- 
edged by universal consent to be one of the most 
versatile women of her time. In Roumania her 
work in the domain of charity and education had 
been as considerable as the King's in that of politics 
and material development of the prosperity of the 
country. She was universally loved and readily 
forgiven the vagaries of her artistic imagination. 
This temperament bred strange ideas, such as that 
of appearing one day, at a festivity which she had 
given at the palace in Bucharest, disguised as a 
Watteau shepherdess, with powdered hair and 
short pink gown, leading a white lamb by a rose 
ribbon, which, unnerved by the novelty of the situ- 



A POETIC QUEEN 145 

ation, became wild in the ball-room. The fact is 
that the mental balance of the Queen had been up- 
set by the death of her only child, and it was years 
before she fully recovered. This sorrow opened 
her heart to all who were sad or in want. The 
good she did was enormous. It would have been 
difficult to find a higher, nobler spirit than that of 
the Queen, but, unfortunately, it rarely conde- 
scended to look at things from a matter-of-fact 
standpoint. If she happened to be composing a 
poem or some beautiful musical piece, which for 
the time being absorbed all her intellectual facul- 
ties, it transported her whole soul into higher re- 
gions whither it was impossible for anyone less 
gifted to follow. When one looked at her in her 
flowing white garments, with the picturesque head- 
dress of the Roumanian peasants, in the half light 
which generally surrounded her, she appeared like 
some fantastic yet benign fairy, too beautiful to be 
true, too ethereal to be genuine. One could very 
well understand that the King admired her as some- 
thing too holy even to desecrate by a thought or a 
touch, but one could yet easily imagine that his 
strongly practical nature would have preferred 
after all, in order to be entirely happy, a wife who 
would have sympathised more thoroughly with his 
personal tastes and pursuits and shared more defi- 
nitely in his ambitions. 

I was asked to dine with the royal pair, and the 
King welcomed me with entire cordiality. He had 
returned to the castle just before the meal, and 



146 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

whilst it lasted the conversation remained quite 
trivial, touching only on current events; but after 
dinner was over the sovereign invited me into his 
study, and, having asked me to sit down, began at 
once to speak about Berlin and the Emperor. For 
obvious reasons it is impossible to reproduce even a 
tithe of the momentous interview of which I was 
instructed to take a verbal reply back to Berlin. 
Such, it seemed, had been the desire of William II., 
and, as Carol I. rather acidly remarked, a wise de- 
sire too. *'I cannot very well advise him in the 
present circumstances. He has always declared 
himself the champion of peace in Europe; he has 
advocated it constantly, and all at once you find 
him seized with a frantic desire to disturb that 
peace, all because he is afraid of a young man whom 
it would be easy for him to reduce to utter power- 
lessness if he really desired it. You may not un- 
derstand it, but I will explain. Of course, it is no 
secret to you that the relations of the Emperor 
with the Crown Prince are anything but cordial. 
The heir to the throne is developing most danger- 
ous designs against his father ; he has succeeded in 
making himself enormously popular and of rally- 
ing around him a considerable party quite capable, 
under certain provocations, of going so far as con- 
spiring against their sovereign, whom they accuse 
of cowardice in regard to Russia. It is those peo- 
ple who have completely inspired the Emperor with 
the fear that he may at a given moment be over- 
thrown and replaced by his son, in whom the mili- 



FRIENDSHIP FOR ENGLAND 147 

tary party in Prussia sees its future avenger and 
hero. Your Emperor feels this opposition to him 
more than he cares to say. If he were sensible he 
would not pay attention to a campaign which is 
bound to die a natural death if left to itself, but 
he refuses to believe that half the attacks made 
against his person in the French and Russian Press 
are inspired, and in some cases paid for, by the 
partisans of his own son in Berlin." 

I could not reply to this strange declaration, 
which took me quite unawares, and therefore 
waited for the next words of the King. Carol I. 
went over to the window, and for some moments 
remained standing at it, looking at the beautiful 
landscape with the dark mountains for its back- 
ground, absorbed seemingly in deep thought. Then 
he turned, and, resuming his seat, went on in a 
more matter-of-fact voice: 

"It is not wise for an outsider to interfere in 
family questions. I cannot afford, or rather Rou- 
mania cannot afford, to be mixed up in such dan- 
gerous matters. She might have to pay too dearly 
for it later on. Personally, I can tell you that I 
think the Emperor ought to resume his old line of 
conduct, which has been such a success in the past, 
and that his apprehensions as to the aggressive in- 
tentions of Russia and England are utterly fal- 
lacious. If William were a little patient, he would 
see the truth of this remark. I certainly won't help 
the Emperor in his designs against England. I 
utterly disapprove of them, and, moreover, I feel 



148 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

convinced that any attempt in that direction must 
end in disaster. A sovereign ought to look at things 
objectively, not by the light of his personal pas- 
sions." 

"It is what Your Majesty has always done," I 
remarked. "But does Your Majesty really believe 
that the Emperor nurses a jealousy in the respect 
you point out?" I ventured to add. 

"Do I believe it? I know it!" exclaimed the 
King, with more warmth than he had yet shown. 
"I know it better even than if he had told me any- 
thing about it. He is essentially of a jealous na- 
ture. On the other hand, the son loathes the father 
who can order him about, put him under arrest 
when he pleases, and who alone does not see in him 
the Crown Prince, but merely a naughty child to be 
punished for the slightest fault against the discipline 
which he has established in his household. Jealousy 
of one another has always been one of the domi- 
nant features of the character of the Hohenzol- 
lerns. 

"Think about the present moment in the light of 
what I have said. Watch it, and then draw your 
own conclusions. Go back to Berlin," said the 
King, after a pause, "tell your Emperor that the 
only advice his old relative can give to him is to 
take a soothing mixture and to go to bed over it. 
Night is sometimes the best of advisers, and he had 
better try not to dwell upon his son's misdeeds. 
The boy's ambitions are certainly not worse than 
those in which he himself indulged during his 



FRIENDSHIP FOR ENGLAND 149 

father's short reign. History repeats itself. Let 
him take the lesson to heart, and remember that so 
long as he remains the master nothing can result 
from the wild militarism of the Crown Prince." 
I never saw King Carol after that day. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE GERMAN EMPEROR AT KONOPISCHT 

NOT long after my return to Berlin from 
Bucharest I heard that William II. was 
going to pay a visit to the heir presump- 
tive of Austria-Hungary at Franz Ferdinand's cas- 
tle of Konopischt, in Bohemia. 

There was not much love lost between Francis 
Joseph and his heir presumptive, whose domineer- 
ing temper had more than once jarred upon his 
uncle's nerves. Franz Ferdinand was a strong 
character, and could not brook contradiction. He 
was entirely under the influence of the Duchess of 
Hohenberg, his morganatic consort, and of the 
Jesuits, by whom her marriage with the Archduke 
had been made possible. His leanings were frankly 
Clerical, and the Liberals looked forward with mis- 
giving toward the future, being persuaded that 
Franz Ferdinand, at the instigation of the Ultra- 
montane party, would adopt an aggressive policy 
toward Russia, the only serious rival of his ambi- 
tions in the Balkan Peninsula. His great friend- 
ship with King Ferdinand of Bulgaria had aroused 
considerable suspicions concerning his future inten- 
tions, and he was supposed not only to favour the 
views of the military party in Austria, but also 

150 



THE DUCHESS OF HOHENBERG 151 

those of the statesmen who advocated the interven- 
tion of Austria in the internal affairs of Bulgaria 
as well as of Servia. 

The Archduke had been suspected also of sym- 
pathising with the late King Milan of Servia to the 
detriment of the Karageorgevitch dynasty. When 
the brutal murder of King Alexander and Queen 
Draga had taken place, the heir to the Austrian 
throne was supposed to have urged upon his uncle 
the necessity of an armed intervention of Austria 
in Servia, the ultimate result of which would be 
the permanent occupation of Servia by the armies 
of the Emperor Francis Joseph. The idea had been 
viewed with a certain degree of favour by the lead- 
ing spirits at the Ball Platz, and might have been 
put into execution had not the German Emperor 
interfered. 

The Emperor William's intervention was deeply 
resented by the Archduke, and for some time their 
relations remained cool, if not actually strained. 
Later on, however, they grew more friendly, thanks 
chiefly to the influence of the Duchess of Hohen- 
berg, who out of personal motives was doing her 
utmost to make friends with those who were likely 
to help her. The Duchess, who was certainly one 
of the most remarkable women of her generation, 
occupied a false position at the Vienna Court. She 
was the daughter of a Bohemian nobleman of high 
birth and lineage, but, her father having but small 
means, she had been taken as her lady-in-waiting 
by the Archduchess Isabella, the consort of the 



152 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Archduke Frederick, more out of pity than any- 
thing else. The Archduke Franz Ferdinand had 
been struck by her rare intelligence and fascinated 
by her clever conversation. His aunt found out his 
attraction for the society of her lady-in-waiting, 
and had turned the latter out of her house. The 
Duchess had always been a devout daughter of the 
Roman Catholic Church ; the Jesuits, therefore, for 
reasons which may not have been disinterested, 
used all their best endeavours to induce the young 
Archduke to make her his wife. They succeeded. 
The wedding was celebrated at the castle of Reich- 
stadt, in Bohemia. The progress of the personal 
history of Franz Ferdinand and his morganatic 
wife is not pertinent to the present narrative until 
after a long period from the wedding, when the 
Duchess noticed that her husband's relations with 
the Emperor William had lost something of their 
old cordiality. She applied herself to re-establish 
them and to make friends on her own account with 
the German monarch, feeling sure that his protec- 
tion would help her over the difficulties she knew 
would be in her path on the day when her consort 
became Emperor. William II., on his part, was 
glad to find an ally in the wife of Franz Ferdi- 
nand, and he even invited the couple to visit Pots- 
dam, where he treated the Duchess as due to receive 
like honour to that which would have been hers had 
she been of the blood royal. He had long talks with 
her, during which he gave her to understand that 
he would always look upon her not only as his equal. 



WILLIAM IL AND FERDINAND 153 

but also as a good friend and adviser in all political 
matters of mutual interest to the monarchy of Aus- 
tria-Hungary and to Germany. 

Nevertheless, when the Balkan complications 
arose, the personal relations of the Emperor with 
his friend again underwent a change. William II. 
said he did not approve of the intervention of Aus- 
tria in favour of Bulgaria. He did not wish to 
appear at that particular moment too well-disposed 
toward King Ferdinand. It was at that time that 
William II. first entertained seriously his great 
plan to wrest the Suez Canal from England. It 
would not, therefore, have been consistent to seem 
too interested in the aspirations of Ferdinand. By 
reason, moreover, of these various circumstances 
he had to exercise a good deal of caution in his re- 
lations with the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and he 
endeavoured to persude him that it was not in his 
interest to create a conflict between Austria and 
Servia for the sake of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
or even of Turkey. 

The Duchess of Hohenberg entered readily into 
these ideas, exerting her influence over her husband 
to induce him to believe that his interests, even 
more than those of his country, demanded that he 
should cause peaceful elements to prevail in the 
decisions of the Viennese Cabinet. A visit which 
the couple paid to the King and Queen of England 
at Windsor Castle, during which the Duchess was 
treated with extreme courtesy, if perhaps with a 
shade less effusiveness than had been the case at 



154 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Potsdam, confirmed her in the idea that the best 
poHcy her future sovereign could follow was to 
remain quiet and wait for the natural development 
of events. 

The result of my visit to Bucharest — as the 
reader knows — was a flat refusal to entertain the 
proposal inferred in the letter I carried from Wil- 
liam II. to King Carol. The rebuff, however, it 
transpired, did not cause the German Emperor to 
bury his ambition. He transferred his attentions 
to the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. 

The task before William II. was difficult and 
full of intricacies, but not beyond his versatile 
powers. True, he had discouraged Franz Ferdi- 
nand earlier, and now it became incumbent to pro- 
vide some incentive to stir the Archduke into ac- 
tion. To my mind this lies at the bottom of the 
self-invited visit to Konopischt and the prelimi- 
nary flattering of the Duchess of Hohenberg. 

He spent three days with the Archducal couple, 
and used his best eloquence to persuade the heir 
to the Austrian throne that Russia had made up 
her mind to interfere in favour of Servia, and aid 
her desire to win the two provinces of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina. Their annexation by Austria had 
long been a thorn in the side of Servia. Neither 
the Archduke Franz Ferdinand nor Count Berch- 
told, who had been asked to meet William II. at 
Konopischt, fell in with his ideas. The Austrian 
Foreign Secretary did not care to raise a storm 
the magnitude of which he could imagine, and the 



SARAJEVO! 155 

Archduke feared that a war would resolve itself 
into failure, so far as Austrian ambitions were con- 
cerned. From the account of this visit, as it was 
told me quite soon afterwards, the Archduke had 
begun to resent the authority which William II. 
had assumed over him. More than that, his visit 
to England had convinced him that the British Gov- 
ernment was doing its best to restrain bellicose ten- 
dencies. 

It therefore became difficult for the German Em- 
peror to convince his friend that the moment had 
really come when the existence of German civilisa- 
tion, to use his own expression, was threatened. 
William II. then tried the Duchess of Hohenberg, 
but he found her even more averse than the Arch- 
duke to a warlike policy. She distinctly told the 
Emperor that the time had not arrived when the 
Archduke could think of saddening the few years, 
or perhaps even the few months, which his uncle 
had left to live by precipitating the horrors of a 
European war. William II. became very angry, 
and without a word left the Duchess. 

The last day of the Emperor William's stay in 
that old Bohemian castle was by no means pleasant. 
Considerable restraint had taken the place of the 
easy, familiar intercourse which had marked the 
beginning of the visit. A few hours before he said 
good-bye the Emperor tried to ascertain the Arch- 
duke's intentions; but Franz Ferdinand was not in 
a good temper, and his blunt reply was to the ef- 
fect that most certainly he was not going to draw 



156 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

chestnuts out of the fire for another person. The 
two men parted in anger, and the Emperor re- 
marked to the aide-de-camp who had accompanied 
him to Konopischt, that the Archduke would never 
listen to reason and was blind to where lay his best 
interests. 

With all his clumsiness Franz Ferdinand was not 
a bad judge of character. 

A month had hardly gone after the visit of the 
German Emperor to the historic and noble castle 
hidden among the roses which made its gardens 
such a thing of beauty, when, in Sarajevo, a mur- 
derer raised his pistol, and with two angry shots 
destroyed two lives. These shots did more — they 
fired the first signal of a tragedy the Hke of which 
the world has never seen. 



CHAPTER XIVi 

SERVIA IN THE 'EIGHTIES 

THE title I have given to the present chap- 
ter may be somewhat of a misnomer, see- 
ing that the action of the story told herein 
begins in the 'seventies and stretches through the 
next decade into the 'nineties. The 'eighties was 
a period pregnant with happenings in the lives of 
the Servian royal family and full of portent for 
the future history of Europe. Of these events the 
murder of Franz Ferdinand was a distant reflex, 
for which reason it becomes opportune to dip into 
the tempestuous past of the Obrenovitch dynasty. 

In those days Servia was still, as for centuries 
it had been, a revolutionary, half -tamed country, 
one in which human life counted for little, and 
where was exhibited an utter disregard for the com- 
mon laws of mankind. The politicians of those 
days, too, were actuated by a perpetual opportun- 
ism marked by a selfishness that bordered on the 
marvellous, so guileless was it of any attempt at 
disguise. 

The Karageorgevitch dynasty had superseded the 
Obrenovitch. Perhaps ''blotted out" is the nearer 
expression. The father of the last representative 
was King Milan, one gifted with uncommon in- 



158 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

sight and adaptabilit}?, but spoiled by Oriental guile 
and a mania for material pleasure. He was popu- 
lar in his country for a considerable period, and 
probably would have contrived to keep the appre- 
ciation of his people had it not been for his domes- 
tic quarrels with his wife and the disgraceful 
scenes that followed. He understood perfectly well 
the nature of his subjects; when to flatter, equally 
as the psychological moment to crush his many 
enemies. But he was a man entirely without prin- 
ciple. After having appeared to favour Russian in- 
terests, he suddenly turned against Russia, and de- 
voted all his energies to promoting Austrian influ- 
ence in Servia. 

The reason for his sudden volte-face lay in his 
personal relations with Queen Natalie, whose Rus- 
sian nationality gave him a pretext for declaring 
himself the resolute opponent of her country. He 
accused her of sacrificing the interests of Servia. 
Whether this accusation was true or not I cannot 
tell, but it can hardly be denied that Natalie, in the 
different crises of her troubled life, sought Rus- 
sian help and tried to foster Russian influence 
among her people. She believed that she would 
thereby be more secure from the likelihood of an 
attempt on the part of her husband to rid himself 
summarily of her, which was her constant fear. 
She was not clever, or she would have soon found 
out her mistake. Milan had been very much in love 
with her, and, if one can believe all that one was 
told by people who knew the secrets of the royal 



KING MILAN OF SERVIA 159 

alcove, felt very much affronted at the curt way in 
which she received, or rather rejected, his affec- 
tion. Beautiful as she undoubtedly was, she had no 
idea of the power which her beauty gave her, nor 
of the advantage it might have proved had she only 
known how to use it. She was inordinately vain, 
and was in her way just as profoundly selfish as 
the King himself. She loved intrigue, and cared 
only for the people who consented to flatter her. 
There was a moment when she had hoped to over- 
throw King Milan and get herself proclaimed re- 
gent of the kindom during the minority of her son. 
Her ambition in this connection came to the knowl- 
edge of her husband, who taxed her with it and 
asserted that Russia was at the back of it all. 

Whether the plot had really existed or not it is 
difficult to say at this distance, but it has been re- 
lated to me with minute circumstance by more than 
one. It is impossible to say more, because the first 
king of the new dynasty caused all papers connected 
with the private life as well as with the political 
activity of the Obrenovitchs to be destroyed. It 
certainly was not out of the range of possibility, 
when it is remembered that after the war of 1877 
Russia enjoyed considerable popularity in Servia, 
and that the so-called Russia party, led by M. 
Pashitch, had many adherents. Milan was a man 
who never looked beyond the necessities or the sat- 
isfactions of the moment. All the political and pri- 
vate mistakes he fell into proceeded from his in- 
ability to weigh carefully the possible consequences 



i6o THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

of his actions and his instability of character. In 
private life he might have been endured, but as a 
king he was an execrable failure. 

The Queen, who, as I have said, might have led 
the King at her will had she only given herself the 
trouble to do so, was in her way just as impulsive 
and passionate as her husband. To these defects 
she added a jealousy which was the more strange 
and inexplicable in that she did not care for him. 
She bitterly resented his numerous infidelities, and 
despised him for them. For his part, the King 
studied to shower one insult upon another on her, 
thwarting her in her dearest feelings. The dis- 
graceful story of the kidnapping — it can hardly be 
called anything else — of her son from her is re- 
membered in Servia to this day, and those who 
knew well the royal family at that time assert that 
this act, coming as it did from a man who had 
never troubled much about his child, was the prime 
factor in the subsequent troubles from which Servia 
has suffered. The child would undoubtedly have 
had a better chance if left in the care of the Queen, 
and, indeed, he might never have been taken away 
had she only acted rationally. Instead, she was 
actuated by the wish to make herself unpleasant to 
her husband, and sacrificed the interests of her son 
to that sole object. 

She had been advised by one of her relatives who 
lived in Russia to apply to the Tsar Alexander III. 
and claim his protection against Milan, taking at 
the same time the little Crown Prince to Peters- 



QUEEN NATALIE i6i 

burg. The idea was not a bad one, and many sub- 
sequent sorrows might have been spared to her had 
she only followed that wise plan. But she believed 
that she was able alone to cope with her numerous 
enemies, and had a sufficient number of partisans 
in Servia to bring about Milan's deposition. Some 
people say that she was imprudent enough to write 
in that sense to a false friend, who took the letter 
forthwith to the King, and that this letter con- 
firmed the King in his intention to appeal to the 
German authorities to allow him possession of his 
child after he had divorced the Queen. 

The King hesitated for some days before decid- 
ing to use force to recover his son, and was ap- 
proached on the subject by one of the confidential 
friends of William 11. At that time the Emperor 
had only been on the throne a few weeks, but had 
followed most carefully the course of events in Ser- 
via during his career as Crown Prince. He saw 
his opportunity to establish Austrian influence at 
Belgrade, and thus have an atmosphere congenial 
to German ideas. It did not coincide with the in- 
terests of the Triple Alliance to allow Russia to 
become paramount in Servia, and William II. well 
knew that any decided antagonistic step taken by 
Milan in regard to Natalie would more than any- 
thing else throw him into the arms of Austria, and 
consequently Germany would thus be able to estab- 
lish herself firmly in the Balkan Peninsula. 

Milan had as a great friend one of the few really 
intelligent men in Austria-Hungary. His name was 



i62 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Count Eugene Zichy, a nobleman of high lineage, 
enormous fortune, and great influence, who de- 
tested Russia, and who was constantly dreaming of 
the day when Hungary would be able to avenge 
herself on the Tsar for the ruthlessness with which 
his ancestor Nicholas I. had crushed the mutiny of 
1848. He exercised considerable influence over the 
mind of Milan, whom he often helped pecuniarily, 
and to whom he remained faithful to the end. 

Count Zichy conceived the idea of creating a 
huge Balkanic State entirely dependent upon and 
welded to the Triple Alliance, which at a given mo- 
ment might support it in an attack on Russia. It 
was he who first suggested that, thanks to the lax- 
ity of her diplomacy, the Tsar might easily be 
ousted out of the Balkans. Count Zichy knew Rus- 
sia very well, had often been there, and carefully 
observed her weaknesses and noted the mistakes of 
those who governed her. He deluded himself to 
believe that with perseverance the vast empire of 
the Tsar might be reduced to the rank of a second- 
ary Power, and, moreover, he persuaded Milan 
that an alliance with Turkey on the one hand, and 
with Germany and Austria on the other, would per- 
mit him to become the leader of a Balkan confed- 
eracy owing nothing to Russia, and give him a posi- 
tion far superior even to that of Ferdinand of Saxe- 
Coburg. 

Milan acquiesced more readily because this ad- 
vice was accompanied by a considerable gift of 
money, presented in the form of a loan. He dis- 



COUNT ZICHY'S DREAM 163 

missed Natalie, and forced the Archbishop of Bel- 
grade to pronounce the divorce he required. He 
then set himself resolutely to the task of reorgan- 
ising not only his army, but also the whole of the 
Civil Service of Servia, according to the model of 
German administration. Finally, it was through 
Milan as an intermediary that the question of send- 
ing a German military mission to Constantinople 
was suggested to influential men in Turkey, who 
in their turn persuaded the Sultan to secure for 
himself the services of Prussian officers who could 
train his troops according to the traditions of 
Moltke, Roon, and all the other military heroes 
upon whom Prussia prided herself. 

That policy, if pursued with any perseverance 
and steadfastness, might have been useful to Ser- 
via, no matter how distasteful it would have proved 
to Russia. Unfortunately, Milan was not capable 
of perseverance, and he neither followed consist- 
ently the line he had taken nor attempted to make 
it triumph. He spasmodically rushed into ex- 
tremes; one moment favouring Russia, the next 
Austria. By the instability of his conduct he dis- 
gusted all his warmest partisans, and, to culminate 
his errors, unexpectedly abdicated in favour of his 
son, under a regency. 

A warm supporter of Russia, M. Pashitch at 
once became Prime Minister, and applied himself 
to the best of his ability to re-establish good rela- 
tions with Russia. Alexander III. was still alive 
at that time, and he was disposed to look with an 



i64 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

approving eye on the renewal of the terms of 
friendship which had formerly existed between 
Belgrade and Petersburg. Little by little things 
assumed their former course, and Russia became 
again an element of support for Servia in the lat- 
ter's relations with her immediate neighbours. 
Russian officers were called to Belgrade to serve as 
instructors to the Servian army, which was reor- 
ganised on the Russian model. Austria began to 
be represented as an enemy of Servian independ- 
ence, and accused of intriguing in order to be given 
the direction of the education of the young King, 
over whom Milan had renounced control. 

This calm, however, did not last long. The first 
person to break the peace was Natalie, who declared 
that she wanted to come back to Belgrade to re- 
sume her rank as Queen. The news was sufficient 
to draw the ex-King back to Servia, where he be- 
gan to intrigue against his old Ministers. A plot 
was hatched which had for its object the imprison- 
ment of the leading members of the so-called ''Rus- 
sian party," and very soon Milan found himself 
again at the head of affairs, this time as the guard- 
ian of his own son. 

He installed himself at the Konak of Belgrade, 
and made himself very much at home there. All 
this time Natalie was living at the house of a friend. 
One day she met her former husband in the street. 
This led to further meetings, and in a few days 
Milan asked her to forget the past and to return 
to him, an offer which for once she was wise 



MILAN AND NATALIE 165 

enough to accept, realising that her actual position 
was far from enviable. She left the city for a few 
days, and when she returned to it, after the decree 
which had reunited her to Milan, the city of Bel- 
grade gave her a most enthusiastic welcome. She 
had lost none of her former popularity in Servia. 

With the return of Natalie things changed con- 
siderably at the Court of her son. Owing to his 
youth the boy, though King in name, was not al- 
lowed to exercise any authority. Milan held the 
reins of government and was responsible for the 
conduct of public affairs. The part suited him. It 
caused chagrin to the Queen, who saw her hopes 
blasted once more. She had to smile on the many 
Austrians who crowded into Belgrade, where Milan 
received them with open arms, and she had, more- 
over, to submit to the wild unrestraint of the King. 
Very soon life at the Konak became impossible, 
and as the Queen declared that nothing would ever 
make her exile herself a second time, Milan had 
to go, leaving his son to the care of Queen Natalie. 

The Queen's triumph did not last long. The 
Cabinet, and M. Pashitch especially — who though 
not in power, yet was absolute master of the situa- 
tion — found out that the Queen, no longer fearing 
her husband, was intriguing to bring about an 
armed intervention of Russia in Servia. But find- 
ing that no one listened to her, and that she was 
fast losing any influence she might have possessed 
in the past, Natalie forsook her son, and left again 
for Paris. 



i66 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Before she left, however, she managed to have 
a long conversation with her son. During her ab- 
sence from Belgrade his affection had suffered 
alienation, and he had become imbued with the be- 
lief that she was so swayed by ambition that she 
would have scrupled at nothing to wield unfettered 
the power she coveted. He was, therefore, pleas- 
antly surprised when he found that Natalie advised 
him to put an end to the strife which was fast mak- 
ing the Court of Belgrade the laughing-stock of 
the world. He should, she said, secure the neces- 
sary authority to rule the State independently of 
his advisers, none of whom was disinterested. She 
recommended certain officers who would be willing 
people to help him in that enterprise, and before 
she went away mother and son had decided upon 
a plan which they honestly believed was born in 
their own brains, but which had in reality come 
from Germany through the instrumentality of the 
Queen's sister, the Princess Ghika, whose husband 
occupied the position of Roumanian Minister at 
Berlin, and with whom the Emperor William had 
struck up a great friendship. 

It was that sovereign who, seeing that M. 
Pashitch was once more gaining ground with his 
ideas of a Servo-Russian rapprochement, had made 
another attempt to snatch Servia and her young 
King from the snares of Russian influence — which 
was the way, I was told, William II. had referred 
to the matter; and I have no doubt that he really 
viewed himself as the ordained saviour of Servia. 



M. PASHITCH AND RUSSIA 167 

The German Emperor suggested to Princess Ghika 
that the best thing her sister could do was to induce 
her son to proclaim himself of age, and thus deliver 
himself from the Ministers who held him in thral- 
dom. Natalie was at once converted to that point 
of view, and, as we have seen, persuaded young 
Alexander to take the step. 

These incidents explain the hidden causes that 
finally led to such grave results at the time of the 
assassination of the unfortunate son of Natalie, 
and later still to the fate which overtook the Arch- 
duke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. Wide apart 
as the two catastrophes seem to stand from each 
other, they yet proceed from the same root-cause 
and are an outcome of the same reckless ambitions. 



CHAPTER XV 

ALEXANDER OF SERVIA AND QUEEN DRAGA 

BETWEEN the warring influences of his 
father and mother it is no wonder that 
when Alexander became King of Servia the 
poor child knew but little of principles and was 
prone to succumb to the first temptation which 
arose. He had seen those whose conduct ought to 
have been an example to him resort to perfidious 
manoeuvres in order to harm one another; he had 
had every opportunity to watch the chicanery of 
the different political leaders who in turns ruled 
the country ; he had listened to men who constantly 
told him that in politics the end justified the means, 
and that victory belonged to the side who lied and 
cheated to the best effect. 

In his boyhood he had been devoted to his 
mother, but when, in a literal sense, he had been 
snatched from her arms he had fallen under the 
influence of his unprincipled father, who, to be 
revenged on the wife who had disdained him, had 
blackened her character to his son. The result was 
that Alexander of Servia grew to despise both his 
parents, and at eighteen years of age was a youth 
who respected nothing and who was absorbed in 
himself and his personal pursuits. 

i6S 



ALEXANDER'S COUP D'ETAT 169 

When Natalie returned to Belgrade, reconciled 
at least in appearance to her husband, she found 
her boy cold and disdainful. He had forgotten the 
tenderness she had lavished upon him in the past, 
as well as his own affection for her. It is but natu- 
ral that she resented this state of things deeply, 
and that her feelings in regard to Milan became 
even more bitter than they had been when he had 
divorced her. When she returned to Servia, and 
had consented to condone the past, the act did not 
carry with it a forgetfulness of his conduct. What 
she had desired was to gather around her once more 
her former friends and partisans at the Konak of 
Belgrade. 

It was not long before she found that, as the 
mother of the young sovereign who had replaced 
his father upon the throne, she was watched in all 
her movements, and that everyone was trying to 
represent her to her son Alexander as an ambitious, 
unscrupulous woman, who would not hesitate even 
to commit crime if she saw in its accomplishment 
a personal advantage for herself. 

Natalie applied herself to overcome the preju- 
dices which had been instilled into her son's mind 
and to win his confidence. This did not prove so 
difficult after all, despite the evident coolness with 
which the young King treated his mother, because 
Alexander deeply felt the need of a friend in whom 
he could confide. When, therefore, she explained 
to him that he ought to make an attempt to govern 
alone, and to rid himself of a regency which in- 



170 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

sisted upon treating him like a baby, he listened 
with favour to the idea. 

As I have already mentioned, the Queen was 
partly advised by her sister, the Princess Ghika, in 
whom the Emperor William II. had found a warm 
ally, and who inspired Natalie in the campaign 
which the latter waged against the principal Ser- 
vian statesmen who wanted to force the young 
King to act according to their ideas and opinions. 
The Queen proceeded with the utmost caution, and 
directed the conspiracy with such consummate skill 
that very few so much as suspected its existence. 
Alexander, therefore, proclaimed himself of age on 
April 1st, 1893, and assumed the conduct of the 
affairs of the Government before anyone in Bel- 
grade had even thought he had the slightest wish 
to do so. 

At first this act of independent authority made 
the young King very popular throughout Servia. 
Everybody hoped great things from the boy who 
had shown he was a man instead of a puppet, and 
one and all hailed his act of independence with joy; 
the coup was considered to have been opportune 
and well planned. Milan became more unpopular 
than ever. He tried to have an explanation with 
the young King, but his questions were met with 
such freezing politeness that he decided not to pur- 
sue them any farther, and retired to Hungary, 
where he was welcomed by his old friend, Count 
Zichy. 

Count Zichy was an extremely clever man, and 



MADAME DRAGA MASCHIN 171 

he at once made up his mind that it was worth 
while to try, by making use of the undercurrents 
in the Court, to drive the young King into the 
embrace of Austria. In order to achieve this ob- 
ject Count Zichy spared neither trouble nor money, 
and it was principally due to his efforts in this di- 
rection that Servia became inundated with people 
of Austrian birth. No pains were spared to trans- 
form Servia into an Austrian province. 

The Count stood high in the good graces of the 
Emperor William, who had invited him on more 
than one occasion to shoot with him. During the 
frequent visits he made to Berlin he had been made 
acquainted with the general outlines of the plans 
of the German sovereign, and had entered with 
enthusiasm into his views as to the necessity of 
putting an end to Russian designs in the Balkan 
Peninsula. The Count became the principal agent 
of Prussia in Servia, and he could act with the 
more impunity because no one dreamed the inner 
politics of that country could be of the slightest 
interest to the wise people who ruled at Wilhelm- 
strasse. 

Very soon the apparent lull in home politics 
which had followed the assumption of the reins 
of the Government by King Alexander came to an 
end, and the battle for supremacy in Servia was 
resumed with renewed vigour. Amid all this tur- 
moil King Alexander lost his way; he felt help- 
less in presence of all these rivalries, animosities, 
and strifes, and, to make matters more perplex- 



172 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

ing still for the lad — Alexander was no more than 
that — the Queen also left Belgrade, saying to her 
son that as he would not listen to her advice he 
must act on his own responsibility. William IL, 
in his interest in the welfare of Servia, wrote once 
or twice to King Alexander, urging him to con- 
sider Austria as his best friend and his only protec- 
tion against Russia. And all this time the quiet 
influence of Princess Ghika was busy. 

Perplexed, worried, and utterly unable to see 
what path he ought to enter upon, Alexander took 
a short holiday in the hope that the quietness would 
enable him to decide upon a course which would be 
best for Servia. He went to Biarritz to see his 
mother, and there fell under the charm of Madame 
Draga Maschin, the lovely woman whom he was 
ultimately to make his wife. 

Madame Draga Maschin was at that time some- 
thing like thirty-two years of age. She had been 
married to an officer in the Servian army, Colonel 
Maschin, from whom, however, she had very 
quickly secured a divorce. Thanks to the protec- 
tion of her brother, for whom Queen Natalie had 
a warm regard, and whom she felt bound to pro- 
tect for various reasons too long to relate here, 
Draga had become lady-in-waiting to the deposed 
sovereign, and had very soon succeeded in mak- 
ing herself indispensable. 

She was exceedingly clever, insinuating, pos- 
sessed a wonderful charm, and was eminently 
attractive. She had a brilliant talent for music. 



DRAGA DECLINES TO INTRIGUE 173 

and composed verses which were taking though 
meretricious. Apart from these advantages, she 
had a soft, pleasant, melodious voice, and appealed 
to the senses of men by an exceedingly sympathetic 
manner that spoke volumes even when she said 
nothing. 

Queen Natalie grew to like her extremely, and 
when her son came to see her she often appealed 
to her lady-in-waiting to amuse and entertain him. 
Very soon the young King, still a boy in years and 
in experience, fell under the fascination of Madame 
Maschin, who won his confidence and assumed the 
attitude of an entirely disinterested friend. She 
spoke with Alexander, discussed with him the dif- 
ficulties of his position, advised him what to do 
or say, and conquered his heart by showing him 
plainly that she loved him for his own sake — a 
thing that the poor boy had always yearned for 
but hitherto never found. It was not long before 
the idea of marrying her filled the King's mind, and 
he forthwith started to carry out his desire, without 
reflecting for a moment on the opposition such an 
intention on his part was bound to meet with 
throughout Servia. 

The first person who became aware of the state 
of affairs was Queen Natalie, and it would be diffi- 
cult to describe the state of dismay into which the 
discovery plunged her. She implored her son to 
desist from his intentions, and at last, finding all 
her efforts futile, she appealed to King Milan him- 
self and asked him to convince their son that he 



174 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

had no right so to brave the public opinion of the 
whole of Europe. 

Milan called his son to him at Vienna, and used 
his best eloquence to dissuade him from the danger- 
ous step he was about to take, but the influence of 
Draga Maschin proved stronger than that of Milan. 
Curtly and with boyish arrogance he told his fa- 
ther that he was going to please himself, and that 
he felt no impulse to listen to parents who had 
never troubled about his existence. 

It was about that time that Draga was ap- 
proached by a mysterious personage, who turned 
out to be one of the confidants of the German Em- 
peror, and asked whether, in case she received cer- 
tain necessary help to secure the fulfilment of her 
heart's desire, she would use her influence over King 
Alexander to further Austrian interests in Servia. 
Draga was an ambitious woman, but she was a 
patriot. She was no fool, moreover, and realised 
the true import of the proposal, but felt afraid to 
say so for fear of a trap. She therefore treated 
the message as a joke. Unfortunately for her, the 
fact that she had received the mysterious emissary 
did not remain secret, and later on the knowledge 
was used against her by the very people who had 
first approached her. 

When Belgrade heard of the impending marriage 
of its young King it became furious, and from the 
very outset Draga found herself placed in an im- 
possible position. For her own sake it was regret- 
table that she made matters worse by affecting a 



OPPOSITION TO QUEEN DRAGA 175 

ridiculously overweening pride. Her very fear of 
being thought familiar led her to become haughty 
and insolent toward people she should have done 
her best to conciliate. Instead of allying herself 
courageously with one party, she sought to pander 
to all, with the result that each one dubbed her 
false and unreliable, and when she was in danger 
abandoned her to her fate with the utmost indif- 
ference. 

For one moment, however, the efforts of Ger- 
many seemed to prevail^ and Draga, utterly dis- 
credited in her own country and made the object 
of bitter and unwarranted attacks, in pique turned 
her thoughts toward Berlin, whence she expected 
help and protection even more than from Vienna. 
She invited the German Minister to come to the 
Konak, and told him that she was ready to favour 
the development of Austrian policy in the Balkan 
Peninsula. The tragedy of it all was that when 
this occurred it was already too late to save her- 
self; the plot was in action which doomed the 
Queen and her youthful husband to a cruel death. 
The awful culmination is too well known and its 
details are too harrowing to bear repetition, but 
there are certain circumstances connected with it 
which have long remained unknown to the general 
public. The soul of the conspiracy was a man who 
on different occasions has played an important part 
in the internal troubles which during the last quar- 
ter of a century have shaken Servia, and who un- 
doubtedly is to this day one of its leading figures 



176 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

and most active politicians. That man was at dif- 
ferent times a member of the Government, and had 
favoured Russian interests and Russian influence. 

Another man of political eminence who was a 
strong supporter of Russian interests, and who be- 
lieved the regeneration of his country could only 
be accomplished under the shadow of the Tsar, was 
M. Pashitch, of whom much has been heard in 
recent years. 

M. hated King Milan, who had done his 

best to get rid of him even to the length of an 
attempted assassination. His personal views in 
regard to the marriage of the young King were 
tinged by the fact that he knew somewhat of the 
early life of Queen Draga when she was only just 
out of her teens. His rage knew no bounds when 
he found out that the Queen was making advances 
to the Austrian party and endeavouring to turn 
her husband's mind against Russia. He tried to 
induce M. Pashitch to wink at a plan to kidnap 
the Queen and to shut her up in an asylum. He 
also wanted Draga to adopt the principles of the 
Russian party. The Queen, knowing the man and 
that he knew her earlier career, feared that this 
invitation contained a snare, and elected to follow 
the advice of the German emissaries who had found 
the means to approach her, and, further, to display 
all her powers of persuasion to induce the King to 
fall in with the wishes of the Austrian Minister. 

Such conduct was the last straw. The politician 
in question had hesitated before the accomplish- 



THE ROYAL MURDERS 177 

ment of what he felt would be an atrocious, even 
if, as he thought, justifiable, crime. But when he 
had ascertained of a certainty that a pact of alli- 
ance between the Queen and the Austrian envoy- 
had been concluded, he hesitated no longer, and 
began at once negotiations with Prince Peter 
Karageorgevitch, the pretender to the throne of 
Servia, who was living in Geneva. 

Prince Peter declared that though he was ready 
to step upon the throne of his native country should 
there be any expressed wish for him to do so, he 
would not be privy to any enterprise by which the 
life of King Alexander could be compromised. He 
was asked whether he would sanction measures 
of force in case these became necessary, and is re- 
ported to have replied ''that he would prefer not to 
be asked that question, and that he felt sure his 
friends would act for the best." 

This was quite sufficient. When M. re- 
turned to Belgrade he had made up his mind what 
to do, and he acted accordingly. 

His first step was to call together a few officers 
of whose feelings and opinions he felt quite sure, 
and before them he unfolded a plan by which it was 
decided to carry away the Queen and to lock her 
up in a monastery, whence she would never emerge 
alive. What would happen were she to show re- 
sistance was left on the knees of the gods, but none 
among the people who were present doubted what 
the outcome would be. 

On June loth Queen Draga received an anony- 



178 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

mous letter by which she was implored to do her 
best to restrain the King from showing himself too 
much in public during the days that were coming 
on, as well as to keep a strict watch upon her own 
movements. She simply laughed when the warning 
was conveyed to her. Her enemies, however, neg- 
lected no detail. The sentinels at the palace were 
suborned, and keys obtained of all the doors lead- 
ing to the private apartments of the sovereigns. 

The King and Queen had already retired for the 
night when the conspirators invaded the Konak. 
Frightened at the sound of voices, Draga persuaded 
her husband to seek a refuge behind a curtain in 
their bedroom. There they spent over three hours 
whilst the whole of the palace was being searched. 
Unfortunately, a slight movement which they made 
betrayed their presence. But for this circumstance 
it is probable that they would have remained unde- 
tected. One of the party went up to the King, 
who was holding the Queen, and dragged him into 
the middle of the room. As the unfortunate mon- 
arch wanted to resist and shield her from the assas- 
sins, they stabbed him to the heart, and then threw 
his body out of the window into the streets. Draga 
was butchered, for no other expression can be used, 
and her body also hurled into the street. Later, 
the corpses of the King and Queen were found by 
monks, who buried them in an old abbey where the 
Obrenovitch dynasty possessed a family vault. 

The next day Prince Peter Karageorgevitch was 
elected King. 



CHAPTER XVI 

SERVIA UNDER KING PETER 

THE Karageorgevitch dynasty, after a lapse 
of some sixty years, came back to the 
throne in the person of King Peter. Cer- 
tain melodramatic writers have said that he waded 
through blood to his throne, thereby inferring that 
Prince Peter was privy to the crime which brought 
the crown once more to his House. Anyone who 
knows his character will never believe this accusa- 
tion for a moment. That he knew a revolution was 
in course is not doubtful, but it is also quite cer- 
tain that the conspirators did not tell him what were 
their ultimate intentions. When the news of the 
assassination of King Alexander was brought to 
Prince Peter he was shocked beyond expression, 
and it is certain that in the first moment of horror 
he declared that he would not appear to have any- 
thing to do with such an atrocious deed, preferring 
to renounce any pretensions he might have to the 
crown of Servia. 

Happily for the brave little nation. Prince Peter's 
brother. Prince Arsene Karageorgevitch, had suffi- 
cient influence to persuade Peter to take the throne. 
Formerly Arsene had been in the Russian service as 
an officer in a crack regiment — the Chevaliers 

179 



i8o THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Gardes. He possessed a most determined charac- 
ter, and he it was who put the sword into the hand 
of his brother, insisting on the latter accepting the 
sovereignty which was thus unexpectedly thrust 
upon him. He asserted that the Karageorgevitchs 
owed it as a duty to Servia to return to the throne 
at that perilous moment of Servian history. If a 
regular government were not proclaimed at Bel- 
grade, Arsene argued perceptively, Austria would 
not hesitate to occupy the capital and to invade the 
country. He so strongly forced his decisive argu- 
ments upon his brother that a few hours later 
Prince Peter was proclaimed King of Servia. 

He has filled this difficult position with great tact 
and undoubted political skill. Very soon Servia en- 
tered into a long period of prosperity, and though 
sceptics used to shake their heads and say that 
the unusual calm could not last for an appreciable 
period, yet it is certain that the country began to 
breathe more easily than had been the case for 
many years. 

The strength and success of the new reign and 
the stability which seemed to be in a fair way to 
become established aroused first the astonishment 
and then the uneasiness of German diplomacy, in 
which the German Emperor shared. Nor was the 
Teutonic mind soothed by the dififerent reports re- 
ceived from Constantinople in the strain that ere 
long Servia would secure the entire sympathy and 
protection of Russia. Out of this new develop- 
ment it was recognised that Servia might conceiv- 




Peter I of .'^ervia 



'PROSPERITY ATTENDS THE REIGN i8i 

ably develop ambitions in regard to supremacy in 
the Balkans, which would end in the overthrow of 
Ferdinand of Bulgaria, at that time still the Prince 
Ferdinand. 

At this juncture Germany saw that it was high 
time to take steps if she wished not to abandon the 
Emperor's cherished aim — the annihilation of Rus- 
sian influence in the Near East. In order to achieve 
this desirable object it was vitally necessary to en- 
list the co-operation of one of the small Christian 
kingdoms of the peninsula. William II. did not 
quite trust Ferdinand of Coburg, whose faculty for 
forgetting promises inspired him with deep mis- 
trust; Roumania was already entirely German, or 
at least he supposed that she was ; Montenegro was 
but a dwarf, to which there was no necessity to 
pay the slightest attention; whilst Greece could al- 
ways be managed, thanks to the strong German 
sympathies of the Crown Prince and to the influ- 
ence of the Crown Princess Sophie, who was the 
sister of the Emperor. Only Servia remained. If 
she could be drawn into the German Emperor's po- 
litical constellation she might prove of infinite value 
in assuring the humiliation of Russia. 

But it was not so easy. There were patriots in 
Servia who were determined not to allow her to be 
launched on dangerous seas, and who, moreover, 
were popular all over the country. Among them 
was M. Pashitch, of whom I have already spoken, 
a wise, experienced, clear-headed politician, who 
looked beyond the success of the moment, and who 



i82 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

was the leader of the progressive and loyal party 
in Servia. Associated with M. Pashitch was M. 
Guentchitch and a few other sincere lovers of their 
country. They advocated their views with strength 
and eloquence before King Peter, and he was wise 
enough to follow their lead. Thereby he more 
firmly established himself and his dynasty on the 
throne. 

Very soon the Austrian Minister at the Court 
of Belgrade called the attention of his Government 
to matters in Servia and certain developments 
brought about by Servian influence in Bulgaria. 
Serious alarm was caused among the private coun- 
cils in Vienna, and the Emperor William was ur- 
gently advised of the course which events were 
taking at Belgrade. 

It soon became evident to the few who were 
acquainted with the inner political ramifications 
that trusted agents of Germany were at work, for 
there arose an exponent of the advantage which 
Servia would gain from an understanding between 
Vienna, Berlin, and Belgrade in the person of the 
Crown Prince. The fact that Prince George 
should so opportunely come forth as the champion 
of a coalition against which his father and the 
more progressive statesmen were fighting all the 
time was significant, as, too, it was that Prince 
George should at that time suddenly recover from 
the pecuniary embarrassments which had long be- 
set him. Things had not been smooth between the 
Crown Prince and his father owing to the warped 



PRINCE GEORGE OF SERVIA 183 

ambitions of the son, and because of his social 
eccentricities. 

Prince George had always been the black sheep 
of his family. Of an active and boisterous tem- 
perament, he had, ever since he reached the years 
of discretion, chafed under the strict discipline in 
which he had been brought up, and rebelled against 
the strong hand with which his father ruled his 
family. At different times the Crown Prince had 
tried to induce the King to initiate him into state- 
craft and to grant him some independence with- 
out his every step being reported. The King, who 
was in perpetual fear as to what his son might say 
or do next, refused to accede to this desire, remem- 
bering that more than once he had had occasion to 
reprimand Prince George for his unseemly licence 
of language and of deportment. King Peter's re- 
proofs had been received in anything but a grateful 
mood, and very soon the Crown Prince set himself 
up in direct opposition to his father, and began to 
gather round him a group of friends determined 
to support him in any antagonism he might adopt 
to annoy the Sovereign and his advisers. 

At a moment when this state of things became 
acute the Crown Prince was approached by an 
agent, who gave him to understand that in case of 
a coup d'etat of some sort he might count on the 
protection of Germany as well as that of Austria. 
The Crown Prince was at first flattered though sur- 
prised, then slightly alarmed, and it was whilst un- 
der the apprehension caused by that last mentioned 



i84 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

feeling that he opened his heart to one of his 
friends, who happened at the same time also to be 
a friend of M. Pashitch. The Ministry, naturally, 
quickly learned that the Crown Prince was medi- 
tating a revolt against the authority of his father, 
and that he planned to have Peter locked up in a 
fortress whilst he himself was proclaimed King of 
Servia. M. Pashitch was thunderstruck, but at the 
same time wise enough to see that however plausi- 
ble, it might be untrue, and even if it were every 
bit as serious as it was made out, he could not make 
any use of the information, as at that time he did 
not possess a shred of proof justifying an accusa- 
tion of conspiracy against the heir to the throne. 
In this perplexity he had recourse to the ability of 
a friend who more than once had risen to the needs 
of an occasion. 

The Crown Prince in his frequent quarrels with 
his father had always threatened to resign his 
rights to the crown and to transfer them to his 
brother Prince Alexander, a dashing, clever, ener- 
getic young fellow, who favoured Russian interests 
and hated Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria. He had 
always been his father's favourite, and his relations 
with the Crown Prince, though very affectionate, 
had not been altogether smooth. According to the 
ideas of the particular group of political men rep- 
resented by M. Pashitch, he would make an ideal 
ruler to follow his father when in the course of 
nature the throne should be vacant. This fact led 




Prixce George of Servia 



THE CROWN PRINCE IS RESTIVE 185 

to the conception of the idea of putting him in his 
elder brother's place. 

The proposal, however, would not be easy to 
carry out, considering that, in spite of his many 
extravagances. Prince George had done nothing 
provable that would have warranted such a grave 
measure as dispossessing him of his rights. The 
alternative, therefore, was to induce Prince George 
to do it willingly. The Prince fell into the snare 
one day when he happened to be in a particularly 
bad temper, and was, moreover, enlivened by cham- 
pagne. He declared with violent emphasis that he 
was tired of being treated as a child, and called for 
paper and ink to be brought to him. He was go- 
ing, he said, to write at once to his father and to 
the Skupstchina, throwing over his reversion to the 
crown ; that, he boasted, would soon bring his father 
to his senses. Pen and paper together with the 
necessary ink were, of course, speedily forthcom- 
ing, and he vaingloriously signed his name to docu- 
ments whereby he became a private individual, and 
an impecunious one at that. The latter deficiency 
was, however, removed, because the King insisted 
on the debts of Prince George being paid and on 
his being granted a large allowance. 

Later on, when the excitement of the first mo- 
ment was over, Prince George bitterly repented the 
hastiness which had made him yield to the advice 
of interested people. When he attempted to say 
something of the kind, he was told that there was 
no going back on a resolution which had already 



i86 THE NEAR EAST FROAl WITHIN 

been made public, and that he must resign himself 
to the inevitable. He took the thing in better part 
than could have been expected, and, forgetting the 
ambitious dreams which he had nursed, accepted his 
new position with enough good humour and phi- 
losophy to make the world believe that he had really- 
desired to be free. 

After the renunciation of Prince George matters 
became at once easier for the partisans of Russia. 
Prince Alexander submitted readily to the advice 
of M. Pashitch; and when later the only daughter 
of King Peter married a member of the Russian 
Imperial family, it seemed that nothing was going 
to prevent the conclusion of an offensive and de- 
fensive alliance between the Romanoffs and the 
dynasty of Karageorgevitch. 

The Emperor William, however, was not alto- 
gether so pleased as people were in Servia. He 
saw once more his cherished plan crumbling to the 
ground, and the possibility of a strong Slav king- 
dom establishing itself, with the help and under the 
protection of Russia, in opposition to weak, tot- 
tering Turkey and in rivalry to the new Bulgarian 
monarchy. It became necessary, therefore, to press 
certain events, the inner purport of which I knew, 
and which, personally, I considered to be unwise 
on broad lines of statesmanship. Yet, as ever, the 
German Emperor compelled those who thought as 
I did to remain silent, and he sought to compel 
Servia to declare itself in favour either of Austria 
or of Russia, so as to be sure of her attitude in 



ALEXANDER AS CROWN PRINCE 187 

future eventualities. Concurrently, William II. 
threw himself resolutely into an anti-Russian policy, 
and used all the means at his disposal to persuade 
the Sultan, and especially Enver Pasha, that the 
time had come when Turkey ought to avenge her- 
self for her past defeats and shake off influences 
which had long restricted her actions. 

When the threats of a war in the Balkans shook 
the equanimity of Europe, the Emperor, instead 
of advising Turkey to yield, encouraged her in her 
ideas of resistance, and concurrently excited both 
Servia and Bulgaria against the Turkish Empire. 
Whilst the Berlin Cabinet was continually repeat- 
ing that it wished for peace, and that peace ought 
to be imposed on the belligerent parties, I know 
from my own observation and the hints given here 
and there that the Emperor personally was advis- 
ing the Belgrade and the Sofia Cabinets not to re- 
nounce one iota of their pretensions, and at the 
same time insisting on the Sultan refusing any com- 
promise. 

As we know, the war broke out, and was followed 
by a campaign in which Bulgaria fought against 
Servia and Greece. During its course King George 
of Greece was murdered at Salonika, and Austria 
began showing her cards, allowing the world to 
guess that she did not mean to let Servia have it 
all her own way, and that, whatever happened, she 
would stand by her faithful friend Prince Ferdi- 
nand of Coburg. 

In Servia M. Pashitch was never idle for a mo- 



i88 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

ment. He saw that the moment had come when 
the basis of an alliance between Russia and the Bal- 
kan States might be discussed. He sent his friend 
M. Guentchitch to Petersburg, where he remained 
five months, seeing Ministers and important politi- 
cal men, and working steadfastly for the cause of 
Servia. His perfect knowledge of the Russian lan- 
guage and his experience in politics were of extreme 
use to him, while thanks to his efforts, which in- 
cluded numerous contributions to different Russian 
newspapers, he soon succeeded in winning a wide- 
spread and practical sympathy for his country. 

His efforts were seconded in Belgrade by the 
Russian Minister there, M. Hartwig, one of the 
cleverest, ablest diplomats that Russia has ever pos- 
sessed. M. Hartwig knew the East through and 
through, having been for something like ten years 
under the orders of Count Ignatieff during the lat- 
ter 's tenure of the Constantinople Embassy. He 
hated Austria, and always declared that until the 
Tsar had annihilated her as a dangerous and in- 
triguing foe Russia would never be able to develop 
her vast resources in peace. He worked with all 
his might to secure a Russo-Servian alliance as a 
precaution against the storm which he repeatedly 
warned his Government was brewing in the dis- 
tance. It was his firm belief that the world had 
reached such a state of complexity that nothing 
short of a bloody conflict could make things 
straight. 

M. Hartwig understood better than most the 




Crowx Prince Alexander of Servia 



KING PETER IN PETERSBURG 189 

subtleties and sophisms which guided policy in the 
Near East, and to counteract the effects of Aus- 
trian duplicity and German intrigues he would have 
liked his country to stand out boldly and pose as 
the champion of the Slav. He laid the basis of 
an understanding, the details of which were rati- 
fied by King Peter when he visited Petersburg dur- 
ing the course of last spring. 

When the peace of Bucharest had been signed, 
people began to breathe freely once more, and to 
indulge in hopes that the everlasting Eastern Ques- 
tion would at last be allowed to disappear for some 
time from the political horizon. Austria seemed 
to have become reconciled to the inevitable; Ferdi- 
nand of Bulgaria appeared intent upon repairing 
the havoc produced in Bulgaria by the last war; 
Turkey had won back Adrianople, and seemed quite 
content with a piece of good luck which she had 
had no right to expect. All seemed fair for peace, 
but it was only in seeming; the everlasting un- 
known quantity was still at work, biding its time 
to engulf men and nations in a bloody eruption. 



CHAPTER XVII 
A Russian's opinion 

MHARTWIG, whom I have mentioned 
in the previous chapter, was certainly 
• one of the ablest diplomats Russia ever 
sent abroad to watch over her interests, owing 
largely to his remarkable sense of intuition. 
Though I knew him very well and was in constant 
intercourse with him to within a day or two of his 
death, I never could quite make out the extreme 
rapidity with which he came to conclusions and — 
sometimes before anyone else had had time to re- 
alise that a thing had really happened — prophesied 
with an accuracy that seldom was proved wrong 
what would follow upon it. He was an ardent 
patriot, and though he longed for Russian para- 
mountcy on the Bosphorus, he was not a fanatical 
Slavophil. As a matter of fact, he did not care for 
Bulgarians or Servians; what he wanted was that 
Russia should acquire an undisputed influence in 
the Balkan Peninsula. He believed firmly in the 
mission of Russia, felt convinced that her destiny 
lay in Constantinople, and that she was bound 
sooner or later to get there. He wished it might 
be sooner. His bete noire was Austria; he firmly 
believed that she represented the most disquieting 

190 



M. HARTWIG AND WILLIAM II. 191 

element in Europe, and that it would be her diplo- 
macy which would entangle Russia in a war in 
which it was most certain that Germany would in- 
terfere. M. Hartwig had spent some years in 
Buda-Pesth, and had used the opportunity which 
was thus afforded him to study with the utmost 
care and attention the political men and the mili- 
tary preparations which were being made in Aus- 
tria. He distrusted profoundly the various states- 
men who controlled the Austro-Hungarian mon- 
archy. He knew that these men, blinded as they 
were by excessive vanity, would not hesitate under 
certain circumstances to resort to subterfuge of the 
grossest kind in order to prevent friends of the day 
before realising the nature of the attacks which 
were being prepared against them. 

M. Hartwig had continually warned his Govern- 
ment that something was being premeditated 
against Russia by the two allied countries of Ger- 
many and Austria. His intuition caused him to 
suspect that the suddenly aggressive policy of the 
Austrian Cabinet in regard to the Slav movement 
in general was the advance guard of a stronger 
determination. M. Hartwig never concealed his 
belief that the underlying motive was the determi- 
nation of the Emperor William to destroy the two 
Powers — Russia and England — which in his eyes 
represented the principal obstacles to German ex- 
pansion. 

One reason for the uncanny foresight of M. 
Hartwig may have been his profound knowledge 



192 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

of the doings of the German Emperor. The fact 
that he was so strong in his belief that William 11. 
was not what he seemed may also have tinged his 
judgments, for the antagonism amounted almost 
to an obsesrion. In justice to M. Hartwig it must 
be said that his was not the obstinacy of a man argu- 
ing on nebulous superficialities, but the outcome of 
a serious and a thorough study of William II. 
Starting from a well-considered deduction that 
upon the German Emperor alone depended the 
peace of the world and the maintenance of the 
status quo in Europe, M. Hartwig told me that he 
had made a collection of the Emperor's various 
speeches in the hope of finding in them the clue to 
that complicated and mystical character who, as 
M. Hartwig put it, was capable of an unlimited 
number of good and bad actions; who, though most 
religious in his words, was at heart the greatest 
moral Nihilist that has ever existed; who, beyond 
his personal glories and triumphs, saw nothing and 
cared for nothing save the material aggrandise- 
ment of his country. When all the world had 
praised the moderation of the Emperor and ad- 
mired his efforts in the cause of peace, and when 
it had been even proposed to grant him the Nobel 
Prize, M. Hartwig was unmoved; he protested, 
indeed, against what he called "this utterly false 
appreciation of the disposition of William II." He 
kept repeating that time would show how durable 
were the intentions of the Emperor, and that per- 
sonally he did not trust them. 



RIVAL PATRIOTS 193 

We had more than one discussion on this subject, 
discussions which, as may be expected, sometimes 
bordered on quarrels, and during which he persisted 
in his opinion. He assured me that all matters 
connected with German armaments, though appar- 
ently well known everywhere, were in reality buried 
in the most profound mystery, and that for every 
soldier and for every gun openly avowed there were 
two or three about which the world at large knew 
nothing at all. 

"Germany is a vast camp," he told me once when 
I passed through Belgrade on my return from a 
journey to Sofia about which I shall speak pres- 
ently, "and most likely it is a fortified camp into 
the bargain. Its storming will require the most 
tremendous sacrifices, and God knows whether even 
these will prove sufficient. One does not with im- 
punity train a nation for forty-five years in mili- 
tarism without war breaking out one day. When 
the fruit is ripe it is bound to drop from the tree. 
You believe Germany to be pacific, in which I do 
not blame you, because a man must have faith in 
his own country; but Germany is hypnotised. A 
kind of exasperation of public opinion has sys- 
tematically taken place in your country, with the 
result that she is quite persuaded that war will be 
declared upon her one of these days, and so needs 
ever to be ready. The German people are pacific 
by nature, I know it well, but Germany is far from 
being pacific ; there lies the whole difference. And 
this difference, you will see, will bring catastrophe." 



194 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

"I cannot believe you," was my reply. "I know 
my country also. I am bound to understand her 
feelings better than you who are a foreigner, and 
I assure you that not one of my compatriots desires 
a war, especially a war with you." 

"Can you guarantee me the feelings of your 
Emperor on that subject?" asked M. Hartwig. 

I stopped for a moment, rather at the remem- 
brance of M. Hartwig's obsession than to consider 
a reply, and whilst I was thus hesitating he re- 
marked in that quick manner of his which was so 
impressive : 

"No, you cannot. When you come to think about 
it seriously you are not at all sure that the Emperor 
wants to preserve peace in Europe." 

"It is you who are mistaken," I replied with heat. 
"I have no doubt in my mind as to the desire of 
the Emperor to avoid a war. What made me pause 
a little was that I cannot help thinking that you are 
prejudiced." 

"No; I am not prejudiced," said M. Hartwig. "I 
should be a very bad servant of my country if I 
allowed prejudice to rule my judgment. I only 
see clearly what others will not look upon. Ger- 
many must expand, must look about for new fields 
for the activity of her children. War is the nec- 
essary outlet. Her navy has now some chance of 
success, and the army is being prepared. The day 
it is ready your Emperor will put the match to 
the fire." 

"Surely you exaggerate, or else you are under a 



DEATH OF M. HARTWIG 195 

bad influence this evening," I remarked. "It is 
idle and unjust to believe such things of a ruler 
whose words tell such a different tale." 

"Ah, well," replied M. Hartwig with a shrug of 
the shoulders, "you will think one day of this con- 
versation. Perhaps I shall be dead, but you will 
remember how I prophesied to you that we trem- 
ble to-day on the brink of great events, and how I 
said that Germany as she stands to-day is a danger 
not only to the peace, but also to the civilisation 
of the world." 

M. Hartwig did not finish with that remark. 

"You may ask me," he continued, "what makes 
me take such a gloomy view of the situation, but 
here in Belgrade, as all over the Balkan Peninsula, 
we see things perhaps more clearly than anywhere 
else. We all know that the slightest incident in 
these regions may bring about events of unusual 
magnitude, and recently the intrigues of Germany 
among the Slav populations of this country have 
assumed quite threatening proportions, as I have 
had the opportunity to see for myself." 

"But why?" I asked. 

"Because," came the immediate reply, "Germany 
covets the Suez Canal and wants, too, to march 
eastward. She can only do so either by the help 
of Turkey and the connivance of Balkania, or by 
crushing both, and this latter by the indirect means 
of Turkey and the Balkan States taking arms 
against each other. Any Balkan conflict, all Eu- 



196 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

rope knows, will involve Russia ; it is that for which 
your Emperor is waiting." 

"But your suspicions cannot be correct," I said. 
"William II. has always done all that he could to 
maintain peace. There is absolutely no ground for 
your assertion that the Emperor has changed so 
utterly." 

"You forget one thing," said M. Hartwig. "You 
forget the relations which now exist between the 
Emperor and the Crown Prince. Remember that 
and you have the key to many a riddle which will 
yet puzzle the world. So long as the Emperor 
was sole master of the situation he could still be 
relied upon to a certain extent; but now that he 
sees that his son has won for himself a considera- 
ble amount of popularity among the military party 
he finds his hand forced, and inevitably he will be 
obliged to make war. The friends of the Crown 
Prince are accusing the Sovereign of cowardice, 
and already say that he is afraid of a war." 

I jumped up on hearing this remark, vividly re- 
calling the words which a few weeks before had 
been used by the King of Roumania. This similar- 
ity of opinion in two men so opposed to each other, 
and each in his way so remarkable, impressed me 
deeply. 

I left Belgrade the next day, and never saw M. 
Hartwig again. He died quite suddenly a few 
weeks later, died in the house of his Austrian col- 
league with whom he had been discussing several 
important political questions. 



THE DEATH OF M. HARTWIG 197 

Many dark rumours were put into circulation 
concerning his unexpected and tragic end. M. 
Hartwig was certainly a man who saw things with 
a much clearer vision than the majority of people, 
and his death at the very moment when his serv- 
ices might have been of inestimable value to his 
country added to the difficulties of the time. His 
vast knowledge of Eastern affairs, his experience 
of politics in general, and his strong sympathies for 
the English alliance, which were the more curi- 
ous that he had never cared for England as a na- 
tion, would have been most useful to M. Sazonov. 
Fate interfered, and when he died Germany lost 
an adversary who was the more dangerous in that 
he never allowed himself to be carried away by pas- 
sion, but judged of things and worked at them with 
the utmost coolness and presence of mind. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

RIVAL INFLUENCES IN GREECE 

FEW of the nations of the Near East have 
been free from the overtures of German 
diplomacy, and Greece is no exception. 
Owing to certain circumstances hereinafter made 
plain, Athens seemed to give promise of fruit in 
the shape of a definite and practical friendliness 
between the Court of Greece and that of William II. 
How diplomacy fared, and to what extent the per- 
sonal feelings of members of the Royal Family of 
Greece entered into the relationship between their 
country and the German Empire, forms a significant 
page of European history. 

In certain other directions in Mid-Europe the 
net result of sedulous diplomatic courting on the 
part of Berlin was a harvest of uncertainties and 
failures. Even where inducements had been pic- 
tured in alluring colours, and a measure of response 
had been felt, the proneness of Balkan politicians 
to consider expediency a first law made even the 
most solemn assurances unstable, and nothing short 
of a definitely ratified alliance was worth trusting. 
Of such words of the wind William 11. was get- 
ting weary — Servia flouted him; Roumania dallied 
with him ; in Turkey, though he felt more sure, yet 

198 



MARRIAGE OF PRINCE CONSTANTIN 199 

he recognised the ruling passion for craft might 
undermine his position at any time; Bulgaria 
seemed a land of promise, but her ambitions were 
inimical to Turkey, and thus stultified the effect 
of diplomatic overtures if Turkey were to be kept 
friendly. 

The Balkan problem became more intricate for 
Germany every year, and knowing as much as I 
do of the inner workings of political dealings in 
the Near East, it was forced upon me, in the face 
of the situation as presented above, that perilous 
times were ahead, and something more tangible 
must be secured in the way of an understanding 
with one of the Balkan League to enable Germany 
to emerge without damaged prestige from the net- 
work which had been woven during the last quarter 
of a century. 

The fact that William II. was bound by ties of 
relationship to the reigning house of Greece led him 
to direct the course of diplomacy to a friendly un- 
derstanding. It was true that King George of 
Greece had been a Dane, and therefore hostile in 
spirit to German expansion, but on the other hand a 
certain friendliness existed between the two rulers. 
The King of the Hellenes, indeed, had sent his 
eldest son to be educated and trained at a German 
military school, a period which came within the 
lifetime of the Emperor William I. From the 
academy the young Prince had become attached to 
a Prussian regiment of the Guards, and whilst he 
was drilling his soldiers on the exercise ground 



200 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

at Potsdam the heir to the Greek throne met and 
fell in love with pretty Princess Sophie, the second 
youngest daughter of the then Crown Prince, and 
of his consort the Princess Victoria. His affec- 
tion was reciprocated, and though the father of the 
young lady, the Emperor Frederick III., died 
before the engagement of the lovers could be 
announced, the course of their affection ran 
smoothly, and they were married at Athens about 
a year after the death of the Emperor, rather to 
the dismay of Queen Olga of Greece, who did not 
like the idea of having a Protestant for her daugh- 
ter-in-law. This difficulty, however, was easily stir- 
mounted when the new Crown Princess, a few 
months after her marriage^ entered the Greek 
Church, a proceeding which led to a quarrel be- 
tween her and her elder brother, William 11. For 
many years brother and sister did not meet, and it 
was only at the death-bed of their mother, the Em- 
press Frederick, that a reconciliation between them 
took place; even then it lacked sincerity. 

The Princess Sophie did not trouble very much 
about this estrangement. She is a very clever 
woman, gifted with singular discernment, who has 
all the ambition of her mother, and certainly more 
tact. During the war which Greece fought with 
Turkey in the latter years of the last century she 
was the only member of the Royal Family who had 
the courage to say that it was bound to end in dis- 
aster, and the only person who urged the King, 
her father-in-law, to conclude peace before his army 




CoxsTAXTix I OF Greece 



KING GEORGE OF GREECE 201 

had been entirely annihilated. This at first made 
her many enemies, and as the Crown Prince was 
held responsible for the defeat of the Greek army, 
he had perforce to leave his native shores for a 
considerable time, together with his family. It was 
during his compulsory retirement at Cronberg, the 
castle which the Empress Frederick had built in the 
Taunus Mountains, that the German Emperor be- 
gan to plant the first seeds of the intimacy which 
; is soon to reunite him to his sister and brother- 
j-law. 
^rince Constantin was at that time still a young 
1. His education had imbued him with strong 
man sympathies and with the desire to bring 
nan influence and German parliamentary prin- 
3 into Greece. He was a fine fellow, perhaps 
heavy in appearance, but handsome, and of 
pleasant manners and deportment. He had been 
at one time very unpopular in his own country, 
and was haunted by the desire to correct the errors 
which arose from his acceptance of the supreme 
command of the Greek army without having been 
sufficiently experienced for the task. It was not 
a disaster to him, therefore, when he saw Greece 
entangled in another war, for during its course he 
hoped he would be able to win for himself the 
laurels for which he longed. That hope had been 
fulfilled, and he believed that it was mainly be- 
cause he had followed the advice of his brother-in- 
law. But as the military reputation of the Crown 
Prince grew, his relations with his own father be- 



202 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

came more and more strained on account — so, at 
least, it was whispered — of strong political differ- 
ences which had arisen between them. The King 
was authoritative in his family and ruled it with an 
iron hand. In that respect he had inherited the 
character of his parents, the late King and Queen 
of Denmark. Even the Queen, good and sweet as 
she was, failed to smooth over the differences which 
crept up continually and rendered life at the Court 
of Athens anything but pleasant. King George, 
who at one time felt great sympathy with the Em- 
peror William II., now began to mistrust him, and 
did not look with favour upon his son's intimate 
friendship with him. King George of Greece was 
a wise and a cautious man, a sovereign with ambi- 
tion, tempered, however, with extreme prudence. 
Owing in a large measure to his personal merits, 
added to his long experience as a monarch, he had 
acquired quite an exceptional position amidst the 
other crowned heads of Europe, and his advice was 
not infrequently sought in times of difficulty by his 
brother rulers. 

He had a great abhorrence for what he called "a 
policy based on adventure," and, without having 
been taken into the confidence of the German Em- 
peror, he suspected him of harbouring certain sin- 
ister designs against two European Powers closely 
allied to the Royal House of Greece, and further- 
more feared that the Crown Prince had had his 
ambitions fired through the same agency. In con- 
sequence of an ancient prophecy which was popu- 



MURDER OF KING GEORGE 203 

lar among the Greek population of the Levant, that 
when a King called Constantin, married to a Queen 
called Sophie, should reign at Athens the Cathedral 
of St. Sophia would once more become a Christian 
church, King George had strong apprehensions that 
the Crown Prince — at the suggestion of Germany 
— would attempt to overthrow the Sultan by force 
of arms, and have himself proclaimed Emperor of 
Byzance. His daughter-in-law, the Crown Prin- 
cess, shared the opinion of King George as to the 
foolishness of such visions, and she, too, would 
have preferred that her brother, William IL, should 
not interfere with what, after all, did not concern 
him. As for Queen Olga, though her relations 
with the King had also become rather strained dur- 
ing the declining years of the King's life, she shared 
the fears of her husband. The Crown Prince alone 
kept up a regular correspondence with his brother- 
in-law. Personally, from certain private evidence 
which I cannot divulge, I am satisfied that Constan- 
tin most certainly entered heart and soul into the 
plans of the Emperor WiUiam II. in the direction 
of Turkey. 

Prince Constantin, however, did not remain for 
long under the influence of these illusions, but when 
the fatal shot fired at his father in Salonika had 
raised him to the throne of the Hellenes, he quickly 
discovered the impossibility of the stories which 
he had been told by his brother-in-law. When re- 
sponsibility of government had been thrust on him 
he realised that his first duty consisted in preserv- 



204 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

ing the patrimony of his own children. The indul- 
gence of the reader must be asked, too, in regard 
to an incident which was currently believed by the 
greater number of the few political agents who 
learned of it. I have no absolute proof, but, as I 
say, it is certain that something extraordinary had 
taken place to cause the young King so to change 
his attitude, and that "something" was credited by 
the few to whom I refer as being in the position 
to know to be a strange letter which had reached 
him almost on the eve of his father's murder. This 
communication told him in so many words that a 
great change was impending, and that very soon he 
would be able to show of what stuff he was made. 
In spite of its impertinent and offensive tone, this 
cursory missive had a ring of truth in it and had 
painfully jarred on the nerves of the then Crown 
Prince. Two days later the King was murdered 
in broad daylight in one of the most frequented 
streets of Salonika. 

Shortly after the death of King George of 
Greece I was passing through Athens, and took oc- 
casion to call upon King Constantin. A reminder 
that I had known him in Berlin when he was a boy 
secured my admission. I found him very little 
changed on the whole, and he received me most 
warmly, talking about the time when he had been 
in Berlin before his marriage. He asked me nu- 
merous questions concerning various of his friends 
of those early days, and seemed interested to learn 
that most of them were still alive and well. Then 




George I of Greece 



MURDER OF KING GEORGE 205 

the conversation turned on recent events, especially 
on the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdi- 
nand and his consort. To my surprise the King 
did not accept my remark that the murderer was 
a Servian, who had been actuated simply by a blind 
hatred of Austria and of her future Emperor. On 
the contrary, he remarked that the existence of such 
a plot had been proved in quite an irrefutable 
manner. How, he did not enlighten me, but con- 
tented himself by remarking: "I don't like saying 
too much, and I have not seen the men who awaited 
the arrival of the automobile in which the Arch- 
duke rode, but I feel certain that there exists a 
link between them and the misguided Greek who 
fired at my poor father. More than that, I would 
not be surprised to find that the same person was 
initially responsible for both crimes." 

This assertion of the young King struck me as 
absolutely uncanny. Who, I asked myself, could 
have an interest in the murder of these people? To 
whom did they constitute an obstacle? 

I could find no reply. 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE FAILURE OF GERMAN INTRIGUE IN 
MONTENEGRO 

THE aged King Nicholas of Montenegro 
has never looked leniently upon German 
intrigue, despite strong inducements. Not 
even would he consent to promise an attitude of 
neutrality — he refused to be tied by a single thread 
which might hamper his independence. The influ- 
ence exercised by the aged King over the Slav races 
was in itself an important factor in all matters 
connected with the development of that great Slav 
Empire about which so many people had dreamed 
in Russia as well as all over the world. On the 
other hand, Germany had long cherished the desire 
to stand forth as the protector of the Slavs, either 
on her own account or indirectly through Austria. 
The Emperor William knew that under existing 
conditions the other Powers would not allow him 
to exercise dominance in the Balkans, and he soon 
found out that Austria was not strong enough to 
be able to dictate to the Balkan States. It there- 
fore became desirable to win over one or other of 
the small Sovereigns whom perpetual rivalries 
made eager to attain a position whence they could 
afford to do without their neighbours. From this 



A SKETCH OF NICHOLAS I. 207 

standpoint German diplomacy had its attention 
focused upon Montenegro for a long time. The 
German Emperor knew very well that King Nich- 
olas was devoted to Russia, and moreover that, with 
two of his daughters married to Russian Grand 
Dukes, it was but natural he should support to the 
extent of his limited resources the Russian cause 
in Constantinople. To counterbalance these sym- 
pathies of Nicholas I., German agents sought to 
capture the interest of the Crown Prince Danilo, 
who, because he had spent some time in Germany 
on various occasions, was supposed to nurse a great 
admiration for German ways in general and the 
German army in particular. Whenever Prince 
Danilo visited Berlin the Emperor William always 
invited him to dinner or to lunch, and treated him 
with particular friendliness. He even went so far 
as to find him a wife, and it was through his direct 
influence and co-operation that the marriage of the 
heir to the Montenegrin throne with the Duchess 
Jutta of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was arranged. 
Duchess Jutta was clever, and she made herself 
liked in her new country, and probably would have 
become popular had she only given her husband 
an heir, but her marriage remained childless. 

With the arrival of Duchess Jutta at Cetinje in- 
trigue entered the life of the Court and proved a 
source of much anxiety to those who, from behind 
the scenes, watched the development of the plots. 
In order more fully to understand these intrigues 
it will be helpful to look into the reign of Nich- 



2o8 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

olas I. of Montenegro and to note the success of his 
long kingship. 

The King is certainly an exceedingly clever sov- 
ereign. He transformed a strip of land into a king- 
dom which, small as it is, commands general re- 
spect, partly through its geographical position, and 
partly through the personality of its ruler. At the 
time he was elected Prince a good many people 
looked upon the Montenegrins as an almost savage 
tribe. Since that day Montenegro has won for it- 
self name and fame through the heroic conduct of 
its children during the continual wars with Tur- 
key in which it took such a prominent part. After 
the campaign of 1877 Montenegro became the ob- 
ject of flattery on the part of Turkey, who saw in 
her an obstacle to Servian ambitions, as well as a 
country whose progress might checkmate the ambi- 
tions of Bulgaria, which was then beginning its 
career as an independent State. Prince Nicholas 
was a man in the prime of life, with a splendid 
physique and a prepossessing appearance. He had 
won for himself the reputation of being a faithful 
friend and a loyal adversary, and had contrived 
to appeal to the feelings and to the sympathies of 
the Tsar Alexander III., who once had gone so 
far as to declare publicly that he considered him 
as the only true and sincere friend that Russia 
possessed. The words made a great stir at the time, 
but they gave to Prince Nicholas a very strong po- 
sition in the Balkans, where one grew very quickly 
to consider him as the depository of the political 



ROYAL MATCHMAKING 209 

secrets of Russia and of her plans concerning the 
future of the Slav cause in Europe. He was clever 
enough to make the most, and perhaps even more 
than was necessary, of the legend that, in conse- 
quence, gradually arose around his name; and as 
a good father, careful of the future of his numer- 
ous family, he applied himself to the task of finding 
suitable husbands for his six daughters, all of whom 
were educated in Petersburg at the Convent of 
Smolna, an establishment under the immediate pro- 
tection of the Empress. The young ladies remained 
at the convent for a year or two after their edu- 
cation had been completed, and went out a good 
deal into society, where they soon made themselves 
extremely popular. The eldest two Montenegrin 
Princesses captivated two Russian princes, the 
Grand Duke Peter Nicolaievitch and Duke George 
of Leuchtenberg, and when the weddings took place 
the Tsar gave the brides their trousseaux — and also 
a dowry, if all that one hears is true. Prince (his 
domain was not then a kingdom) Nicholas went 
to Russia for the weddings, and was made a great 
fuss of. 

Since the marriage of his daughters he has vis- 
ited the Russian capital many times, and has used 
the occasions to further the interests of his little 
kingdom, and he finally had the cleverness to win 
from the Tsar the guarantee of a regular subsidy, 
which is being paid to him to the present day. 
Montenegro was a young country, and a poor one 
into the bargain; therefore no one objected to the 



210 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

generosity exercised by the Tsar in regard to a man 
who had given him such proofs of his devotion. 
There were some who had the audacity to ask in 
what these proofs consisted, but any who ventured 
to make such unpleasant remarks were very soon 
cowed, and the devotion of Montenegro and its 
ruler to the Russian cause became one of those 
established legends that it would have been dan- 
gerous to deny or even not to acknowledge. It 
was proof of the supreme ability of Prince Nich- 
olas that he could so persuade the world, and in 
this, as in everything else, he showed himself a 
consummate diplomat. Each time he went to Rus- 
sia he returned laden with promises, whilst he him- 
self kept silent as the Sphinx in the Egyptian desert. 

His fifth daughter married Francis Joseph, 
Prince of Battenberg, and in that way he assured 
himself of the sympathies of Queen Victoria, whose 
youngest daughter, the Princess Beatrice, was wed- 
ded to another Battenberg brother; and at last he 
achieved his greatest triumph in the matrimonial 
line when the dark-eyed Princess Helene was united 
to the Prince of Naples, the only son of King Hum- 
bert of Italy and of his lovely consort Queen 
Margherita, "the Pearl of Savoy" as she was called 
in her own country. 

It was about the time of Helene's marriage that 
the Emperor William II. sought the friendship of 
Prince Nicholas. A little known but perfectly true 
circumstance Is that the German Emperor sug- 
gested this alliance to the King of Italy. Owing to 




Nicholas I of jSIontenegro 



THE PRINCE AND HIS PEOPLE 211 

the peculiar relationship alway^s existing between 
the Italian Royal Family and the Vatican, it was 
impossible to think of a Catholic wife for the heir 
to the throne. Bearing in mind how considerably 
such a fact narrowed the circle of eligible prin- 
cesses, William II. suggested to Humbert that 
among the splendidly beautiful daughters of Nich- 
olas of Montenegro a suitable consort might be 
found. 

Owing to this excellent advice the Prince of Na- 
ples journeyed to Cetinje, with the happy result 
that the betrothal to Helene was soon announced. 
In this act the German Emperor knew very well 
what he was about and that nothing but advantage 
to everybody could come out of his hint. He had, 
moreover, taken care to keep himself well informed 
as to the personal charms and qualities of the young 
princesses, and when after his marriage Prince Vic- 
tor Emmanuel was found to be ardently in love 
with his wife, William II. congratulated himself 
on the foresight that had persuaded him to have 
a hand in the happiness of one of his friends and 
at the same time assured him of the gratitude of 
Nicholas of Montenegro, whom he took care to 
inform that the match had been partly his work. 

The Berlin Court and the Quirinal had long been 
upon excellent terms W'ith each other, and in conse- 
quence William II. felt sure of being able to exer- 
cise through its medium some influence on the 
Prince of Montenegro in order to incline him to 
favour the plans of Germany. 



212 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

There came a moment when the Emperor Wil- 
liam 11. ventured to appeal to the Quirinal and to 
ask the young King (not long after his accession) 
whether, if such came about, he would undertake 
the office of mediator in settling the terms of a de- 
fensive and offensive alliance between Germany and 
Montenegro. Victor Emmanuel declined under the 
pretext that his father-in-law was a man of such 
authoritative character that he would never dare 
suggest to him anything in general, and especially 
anything in which politics were concerned. This 
suave reply did not discourage William II., who 
then undertook to do his work alone, and sent me 
to Cetinje with secret instructions to sound the 
Prince (as he still was at that time) and to find 
out what were his views upon the subject. 

I duly reached the Montenegrin capital, and al- 
most immediately after my arrival was received by 
Prince Nicholas in the simple manner in which he 
welcomed all his visitors. The palace, as it was 
pompously called, reminded one rather of the coun- 
try house of a simple gentleman of moderate means 
in Europe; the only characteristic thing about the 
place was the number of men armed to the teeth 
that crowded around it, not for the protection of 
the royal household, but all wishing to ask some- 
thing of their ruler, to crave some advice, or to 
make some complaint. He listened to each one 
more as a father would than a sovereign. One 
could not help being struck with this familiarity; 
it united the people and their ruler, and it was so 



ANGLING FOR POWER 213 

entirely genuine, so different from anything one 
could see or meet with anywhere else, that it has 
remained a bright memory. The Prince noticed 
my surprise, but simply smiled and kindly re- 
marked, "We are not in Europe," adding, "We live 
more simply here than you do in Berlin." After 
coffee and a pipe, Nicholas began questioning me 
as to the reasons which had brought me over to 
Cetinje, and inquired whether I had been entrusted 
with a mission of some kind. This I evaded, ex- 
plaining as the desire to see a new country my 
excursion to the Black Mountain. He nodded and 
at once started talking about the Emperor William. 
"He has been very kind to me whenever I have 
seen him," he said, "and I only wish I could be of 
some use to him later on. I am sure he is a wise 
monarch and one who always thinks of the needs 
of his subjects. And then think what a responsi- 
ble position he occupies. The peace of the world 
depends almost entirely upon him." 

"The Emperor has constantly been working for 
the cause of peace," I replied, "and one of the rea- 
sons why he admires Your Highness so much is 
that he knows you have done the same thing in the 
Balkan Peninsula." 

"Ah! but what can I do?" answered the Prince. 
"I am so helpless in the face of all the rivalries that 
abound among our Slav brethren and of the cruelty 
and oppression exercised by the Turks in regard 
to them. I do what I can, but how often have not 
events proved too strong for me? We are being 



214 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

threatened from all sides, and Austria never spares 
an occasion to show to us that she means to crush 
our independence. Then, on the obverse, Austria 
is hated by all Slavs, who seize every occasion they 
can find to attack her. Look at all she does in 
Bosnia. She is sure to annex it and Herzegovina. 
And do you think that the Slav populations of the 
Peninsula will not rise in revolt against such a 
fact? What can I do, then, but follow them and 
help them to the defence of their rights? Ah! if 
I were the King of Servia or Ferdinand of Bul- 
garia, I might attempt to speak the language of 
reason, because then I would have some kind of 
authority vested in my hands. As it is, I am but 
a poor little prince of no consequence, and must 
needs follow the lead of others, who often tell me 
to hold my tongue because amidst so many kings 
I have no place." 

I hastened to reply. 

"If rumour speaks the truth, Your Highness has 
already more than once been entreated to change 
your title for that of a sovereign, but have always 
refused." 

"Ah, yes, you have been told so ; but, believe me, 
it is all a mistake. My subjects may have wished 
me to be called by the title of king, but of what 
consequence can be their wishes ? It is Europe that 
has the word to say in such a matter, and so far 
Europe has not taken kindly to the idea — at least, 
has not encouraged it, and it is entirely out of the 



A SPHINX-LIKE MONARCH 215 

question for me to move in the matter so long as 
she remains silent." 

"Ah, but my Emperor would be quite willing to 
take the initiative in the affair," I ventured to say; 
"he would require, though, to know what were the 
views of Your Highness in matters of general 
politics. The Emperor is upon terms of close 
friendship with the Sultan; he could hardly en- 
courage any demonstrations of hostility in regard 
to the latter, and Montenegro has never been the 
friend of Turkey." 

"Has never been? You are right to talk in the 
sense of the past," interrupted Prince Nicholas. 
"All those heroic times have gone never to return, 
I hope. Why should we not live at peace with Islam 
after all? We only want the Moslems to leave 
us alone, and not to oppress and persecute our 
brethren in race and faith. If your Emperor, 
through his personal relations with the Sultan, 
could obtain us that boon, then indeed Montenegro 
would feel itself under an obligation to follow him 
in his policy far more than if he had troubled to 
help me personally to get a title, which, though it 
would add considerably to my authority, could not 
contribute in any way whatsoever to my happiness." 

"I am certain that the influence of my Sovereign 
will always be exercised in the cause of human- 
ity," was my answer, "and the very fact that he 
has asked me not to neglect an opportunity, should 
it arise during my journey to this beautiful coun- 
try, to obtain some idea of the intentions of Your 



2i6 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Highness proves it once more. He is convinced 
that Montenegro is the dominant factor of the 
whole situation in the Balkans, and I am sure it 
would be of sincere interest to understand whether 
you would take part in any dispute, should compli- 
cations ever arise, or would preserve a strict neu- 
trality. Your Highness will probably agree with 
me that a decision to remain neutral in Montenegro 
would certainly mean that the other Balkan States 
would remain neutral too." 

"It is very hard for me to say what I should do," 
replied Nicholas with quiet weight in his tone; "but 
if I could talk on a footing of equality with Servia 
and Bulgaria, and Montenegro were no longer the 
poor little principality it is to-day, then most cer- 
tainly I should do my utmost to persuade all those 
within reach of my words and influence that they 
ought to do all that is in their power in order to 
prevent any conflagration, should such an unhoped 
for calamity arise, from spreading beyond its orig- 
inal limits." 

Try as I would, I could not induce the Prince to 
give me his views in a clearer or more categorical 
form. He remained impenetrable, and I left him 
with the conviction that the only manner by which 
one could hope to enlist his sympathies would be to 
help him in his ambition to become a king. 

It will be remembered by the student of history 
that when Prince Nicholas was made a king later on, 
it was the Cabinet of Berlin which agitated most 
zealously for the recognition of Nicholas as Sov- 



A SPHINX-LIKE MONARCH 217 

ereign of Montenegro and for the erection of that 
principality into a kingdom. 

When the thing had become a fact the new Mon- 
arch paid a visit to WilHam II. in Berlin for the 
ostensible purpose of expressing his thanks. The 
Emperor received him even more warmly than he 
had done on the occasion of his previous visits, and 
tried to persuade him to give an opinion as to his 
intentions in the delicate matter of European influ- 
ence in the Balkans. But the Emperor was soon to 
realise that few men have grasped so thoroughly 
as Nicholas of Montenegro the problem of never 
allowing oneself to be inveigled into expressing an 
opinion on a dangerous subject. 

Some time later, when his troops had taken 
Scutari in Albania by storm, Nicholas was ap- 
proached by a German agent. He refused to con- 
sider any proposals unless he was definitely left in 
possession of Scutari. It was impossible, for Ger- 
many was inextricably involved to support Turkey, 
and so Nicholas — the ruler of the smallest kingdom 
in Europe — threw down the gauntlet and followed 
the example of Russia and England by declaring 
war on Germany. 



CHAPTER XX 

TSAR FERDINAND OF BULGARIA 

MY journey to Sofia to see the Bulgarian 
King — or Tsar as he preferred to be 
called — was one of those secret missions 
with which I was entrusted by Wilhelmstrasse 
whenever they desired to ascertain things it would 
not have been easy to discover through official chan- 
nels. I was known to be fond of travelling, and 
by assuming the role of an enfant terrible to whom 
years had not brought discretion was forgiven 
much, and on the whole enabled to render certain 
services to the Emperor and the Fatherland which 
under other conditions would hardly have been pos- 
sible. 

When I started upon my so-called pleasure trip 
to Bulgaria the Treaty of Bucharest had just been 
signed, and the whole of the Balkans still bore the 
impress of the devastating struggle. Bulgaria had 
been humbled to the dust, and Servia, though tri- 
umphant in appearance, had bought her victory at 
the cost of enormous sacrifices. Greece had not 
fared much better, and that degree of superiority 
was only due to the rare intelligence of her Premier, 
M. Venizelos. 

The Emperor William II. had been rather sorry 

218 



FERDINAND ELECTED TO BULGARIA 219 

to see the defeat of King Ferdinand. He had an 
admiration for success, and in Ferdinand's case the 
defeat was the only set-back in a career of marked 
progress. King Ferdinand had been a younger son 
of a family which by dint of patience and of ability 
had succeeded in pushing itself forward and in tak- 
ing possession of several thrones in Europe. The 
Coburgs were ever an ambitious race, and the pres- 
ent King of Bulgaria is no exception to the rule. 

When Prince Ferdinand was invited to take up 
the task which Prince Alexander of Battenberg had 
found himself unable to tackle, he had consulted 
his mother, the famous Princess Clementine of Or- 
leans. The Princess was one of those women born 
to great things, built after the model of Maria 
Theresa or of the great Catherine, but who had 
found herself compelled all her life to occupy a sub- 
ordinate position in which her rare faculties had 
been deprived of exercise. Her marriage had not 
been a very happy one, and her sons had also not 
altogether satisfied her maternal ambitions. She 
saw suddenly in her old age the possibility to realise 
the secret dreams and longings of her youth and, 
under the name of a beloved child, at last to have 
something to say in the destinies of Europe. Prin- 
cess Clementine nursed great ambitions. The friend 
of the Jesuits and the supporter of the Catholic 
cause wherever she went, she had brought up Prince 
Ferdinand with special care, and had kept him so 
entirely under her own wing that he had acquired 
a love for fine dresses and jewels and rather femi- 



220 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

nine tastes ; but at the same time he had strongly de- 
veloped literary and artistic tastes and had become 
most certainly, from the intellectual point of view, 
a cultivated and remarkable man. 

When the Princess advised her son to accept his 
election as Prince of Bulgaria she did not intend 
him to fail, but brought to his help all the resources 
of which she was possessed, and all her vast wealth. 
She accompanied Prince Ferdinand to Sofia, and es- 
tablished herself there, using all her rare faculties 
of mind and her great intelligence to win popular- 
ity for her son. She opened her doors to represent- 
atives of all the different parties, smiled at M. 
Stambouloff, shook hands with M. Radoslavoff, and 
lured to her side all the leading men in Bulgaria, 
whom she treated with the utmost affability, with- 
out appearing to notice their lack of manners or the 
incongruities of their conduct at table. She even 
invited the members of the national clergy to her 
hospitable home, and began discussing gravely with 
them the possibility of union with Rome, which was 
the one thing for which her soul craved and which 
she would have liked to achieve. 

She spent her money freely, showing herself 
more than generous whenever the occasion to open 
her purse presented itself. She interested herself 
in the question of education, favoured the opening 
of new schools, and most of those already existing 
throughout Bulgaria obtained large subsidies from 
her. Whilst known to possess no ambition save that 
of furthering the fortunes of her son, she neverthe- 



INTERNAL OPPOSITION 221 

less contrived to make personal friends for herself 
among his adversaries, and men of all parties were 
glad to appeal to her common sense and to use her 
as a go-between in their negotiations with the 
Prince. At the same time she urged her son to 
begin building for himself that wonderful palace 
of Euxinograd, which has become one of the most 
beautiful things of its kind in Europe. The far- 
seeing Princess had something else in view when 
she advised Prince Ferdinand to erect it. She 
wanted him to have a place of refuge where, if the 
necessity arose, he could defy any revolution that 
might break out in Sofia and where he would be safe 
from any attempt to kill or kidnap him, as had hap- 
pened to poor Prince Alexander of Battenberg. 
Euxinograd is built on the seashore, and its towers 
command an extraordinary view. A yacht always 
at anchor in the roads would provide an easy escape 
from danger. Princess Clementine never left things 
to chance. This extreme caution, coupled with 
great determination and an almost ferocious 
strength of will, has been inherited by her son, who 
has given proofs of it during the whole time he 
has occupied the throne of Bulgaria. 

When Prince Ferdinand arrived in Sofia he 
found the position there extremely difficult. Not 
one among the great Powers wished to recognise 
him. Russia simply ignored his pretensions, and 
the Tsar Alexander III. declared that the less he 
heard about him the more pleased he would be. 
This was a serious check in the political career of 



222 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

the new ruler of Bulgaria, and at first no one be 
lieved he could hold his own. Europe was over- 
generous in snubbing Ferdinand, but he settled in 
Sofia without minding in the very least the fact 
that no one consented to acknowledge his position 
there as either stable or even legitimate, and he 
started to govern the country that had placed him 
at its head with the utmost coolness and determina- 
tion. He was always cheerful, always amiable, 
always pleasant. He held long interviews with his 
cook every morning that proved most satisfactory 
for those whom he invited to sit at his hospitable 
board, and he assumed an indifference to the judg- 
ments of his adversaries. After a few months the 
world ceased laughing at him, and after a few 
years it was he who laughed at it. 

Nevertheless, those first days of sovereignty 
were indeed a hard trial for the Prince. For one 
thing, Ferdinand discovered very soon after he had 
set his foot on Bulgarian soil that a strong party 
was intriguing against him. He had found that 
the one powerful man in Sofia was M. Stamboulofif, 
who had been nicknamed "The King-maker," and 
whose word was law. M. Stambouloff and Prince 
Ferdinand did not agree well together, being both 
men of strong opinions and of most unyielding 
character, with one essential difference, however. 
The Bulgarian statesman, with all his faults and a 
certain cruelty in his nature which it is impossible 
to deny, was incapable of deceit. Prince Ferdi- 
nand, on the contrary, was trained to the belief 



PRINCESS CLEMENTINE 223 

that the end justified whatever means were em- 
ployed to attain it. It was not long before these 
two men showed an open antagonism to each other. 
Stambouloff declared with emphasis that he could 
not enter into Ferdinand's plans, and did not take 
the trouble to conceal his reasons. 

In the end M. Stambouloff was murdered one 
evening as he was returning home. He was very- 
popular; many people mourned him sincerely, but 
at the same time it was felt all over the country 
that his hostility in regard to the Prince might have 
brought about serious difficulties in the future. 

With Ferdinand things prospered, the people rec- 
ognised in him a leader after their own heart, and 
the country was certainly making favourable prog- 
ress. In the meantime Ferdinand had married the 
Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parme, the eld- 
est of the nineteen children of the exiled Due de 
Parme. She was a sweet woman with lovely hazel 
eyes and eminently attractive. Hers was not a 
happy married life, and she must have regretted 
more than once the park of the Villa Pianore, near 
Lucques, where she had spent her childhood. Ferdi- 
nand treated her with a roughness that was the 
more wonderful that he was generally studiously 
polite to all those with whom he came into contact ; 
but the straightforward character of the Princess 
jarred on his nerves. It was not remarkable, there- 
fore, that Ferdinand and his gentle wife became 
estranged, and that the Princess Clementine con- 
tinued as the moving spirit at the little Court of 



224 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Sofia, her word law, and her influence and author- 
ity beyond dispute. 

For many years Clementine really ruled under 
her son's name, and during that period Bulgaria 
developed in an astonishing manner. The Prin- 
cess never let an occasion pass for furthering Bul- 
garian interests, whilst saying the whole time that 
it was Prince Ferdinand alone whose initiative 
brought about the various reforms that were being 
prosecuted with commendable activity. Ferdi- 
nand's mother was liked and appreciated at every 
Court in Europe, and furthered the interests of her 
son with an energy that was quite wonderful in 
such an old woman. Mother and son loved each 
other with a warm, strong affection, and the Prince 
had the good sense to submit to her judgment. Be- 
ing under the influence of the Jesuits, it was the 
lasting hope of Princess Clementine to restore the 
Bulgarian Church to the arms of Rome. It would 
be a long story, with far more ramifications than 
can be set out in logical sequence, to explain the 
policy by which the Princess sought to carry out 
her ambition. Suffice it to say that it was this great 
aim on her part that has always actuated Ferdi- 
nand's keen hope that one day he will be acknowl- 
edged as head of the Christian Church in the Near 
East, and be proclaimed as such from the altar 
steps of the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Constanti- 
nople. 

When Princess Clementine died she had the sat- 
isfaction of knowing that no mother could have 



FLIRTING WITH RUSSIA 225 

done more for a son. The old internal antagonisms 
had been swept away, the coldness of Europe had 
been thawed, and, from being a prince on suffer- 
ance, Ferdinand was in a fair way to becoming a 
king, his principality converted into a kingdom, and 
his influence a deciding factor in Balkan politics. 

Very friendly relations existed between the Prin- 
cess Clementine and the German Emperor, who 
after having failed for some time to propitiate her, 
had suddenly succeeded in doing so. The fact is, 
that the shrewd old lady understood very well that 
it would be a master stroke on her part to secure the 
good will of William II. for her son without seem- 
ing eager to obtain it. William IL, always watch- 
ful of everything that was going on in the East, 
and desirous of assuring himself of allies capable 
of counteracting the action of Russia in the Bal- 
kans, was but too glad to see the Princess Clemen- 
tine appeal to him when certain difficulties arose. 
Pie extended to her as well as to Prince Ferdinand 
all the help it was in his power to give. He per- 
suaded the Austrian Government to forget that the 
Prince of Bulgaria had accepted the throne of that 
country in defiance of its opposition, and he brought 
about an interview with the latter and the Emperor 
Francis Joseph, which was the first step toward an 
official recognition of his election as ruler of unruly 
Bulgaria. 

This was an important result, but so long as the 
Tsar Alexander III. was alive Prince Ferdinand 
could not feel himself secure at Sofia. The Tsar 



226 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

could not digest "that adventurer," as he called 
him, who in defiance of Russia and of Russia's de- 
sires had ventured to instal himself at Sofia. Wil- 
liam II. did try once to say a word to the Tsar to 
the effect that Prince Ferdinand was after all not 
so bad, but no reply was vouchsafed to this remark. 
Matters therefore remained in abeyance until the 
world was startled by the news that the Tsar was 
dying. Very soon Nicholas II. reigned in his place. 
It was then that the German Emperor, always 
intent upon great schemes, made a suggestion for 
winning the favour of Russia, which met with full 
sympathy from Princess Clementine of Coburg, to 
whom he mentioned it, and received the tacit sanc- 
tion of the Jesuits, whose influence over her was so 
great. Unknown to William II., the same idea had 
already entered the mind of another. The plan was 
that Prince Ferdinand of Coburg should have his 
children publicly baptised into the Greek Orthodox 
faith. What followed is the subject of another 
chapter. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE HISTORY OF A CONVERSION 

COMING as it did from people who had al- 
ways been considered strong supporters of 
the Roman Church, the scheme for the re- 
baptism of the Bulgarian Crown Prince Boris, to 
which reference was made in the last chapter, at 
first sight appeared monstrous. In reality it was 
not so extraordinary as it seemed. The Greek Or- 
thodox Church was not the same as the National 
Bulgarian Church, though many people believed 
them to be identical. The Greek Church in the East 
is under the sway of the Patriarch of Constanti- 
nople or of the Holy Synod in Petersburg, whilst 
the Bulgarian Church is independent, with its own 
hierarchy. The leaders of the Bulgarian Church 
were in a state of continual revolt against the per- 
sistent attempts to bring it under the dominion of 
the Constantinople Community and its Patriarch. 

The Princess Clementine had long been working 
at the Vatican to secure the recognition of the Bul- 
garian Church by the Pope, and of thus bringing it 
back into the bosom of the Church of Rome. She 
was aided in that enterprise by the Jesuits, who 
had established colleges and schools in Bulgaria, 
and who were agitating with considerable success 

227 



228 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

to cause the bulk of the people to favour the re- 
union of the National Church with the Latin com- 
munity. Prince Ferdinand fully supported the 
movement. There was nothing in the tenets of the 
National Bulgarian Church that could be consid- 
ered as distinctly antagonistic to Catholicism. 
Therefore, argued Princess Clementine, it was easy 
to bring about a fusion of these two forces which, 
working in unison, might in time become a most 
important factor in European politics. A recon- 
ciliation with Rome could not fail to make Prince 
Ferdinand popular. 

Even before the death of Alexander III. the 
question of the conversion of Prince Ferdinand's 
eldest son had been raised. An intimate friend of 
the Prince had touched upon it during a conversa- 
tion with Prince Lobanoff, who had just been ap- 
pointed at the head of the Russian Foreign Office. 
This conversation had taken place in Paris, where 
Lobanoff was enjoying a short holiday. The inter- 
view took place at the Cafe Anglais, on the boule- 
vards, where the confidant of the ambitious schemes 
of Prince Ferdinand had invited the Russian states- 
man to dine. Prince Lobanoff had said nothing to 
these overtures, not caring to compromise himself 
at random, but on his return to Petersburg he fos- 
tered the idea, believing that it would prove a good 
pretext for bringing about a reconciliation between 
Bulgaria and Russia. Alexander III. had died in 
the meantime, and Nicholas II. did not entertain the 
same antagonism to Prince Ferdinand. When, 



A QUESTION OF FAITH 229 

therefore, the latter once more approached the Rus- 
sian Government, his request that the Tsar might 
sanction the re-baptism of his little boy according 
to the rites of the Greek Church met with accept- 
ance. The Tsar even promised to send a represen- 
tative to Sofia to attend the ceremony, and Prince 
Ferdinand proceeded to make public his decision as 
soon as he had ascertained for sure that Russia was 
to show publicly her acquiescence. 

To the surprise of Prince Ferdinand a good 
many persons in Bulgaria disapproved of the meas- 
ure, among them his own wife, the Princess Marie 
Louise. Her honest soul and simple mind refused 
to accept such a political apostasy, and her strictly 
Roman Catholic convictions rose up in horror and 
disgust at the thought of her child being thrust 
into another faith than her own. At first she de- 
clared that she would never consent to the thing, 
and when told that her sanction or otherwise was 
of no consequence, expressed her resolution to leave 
Sofia rather than approve by her presence an act 
to which she entirely dissented. Princess Marie 
characterised the act as a shameful political conces- 
sion not to the necessities of the moment, but to 
further the ambition of her husband. 

At first she hoped that the Pope would come to 
her help, and wrote imploring his assistance. But 
Leo XIII. was far too shrewd a statesman to do 
aught else but pity and comfort her. As a matter 
of fact, Leo XIII. knew somewhat of the details of 
the contemplated conversion, for Princess Clemen- 



230 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

tine had spent some weeks in Rome just before 
Princess Marie Louise had sent her pathetic appeal. 
Princess Clementine had conferred with several of 
the prelates, and among others the Prefect of the 
Congregation of the Propaganda, Cardinal Ledo- 
chowski, a Pole, and a man whose secret desire, 
ever since he had received the red hat, had been 
to bring about a reunion of the Latin and the 
Greek Churches. He hated Russia, and knew that 
the establishment of a modus vivendi would pro- 
cure for the Jesuits a recognition throughout the 
Balkan Peninsula of the Church discipline of Rome, 
and certainly, therefore, deal a considerable blow 
to Russian influence. At all events it was a game 
worth trying, and the Jesuits entered into it with 
zeal. The Archbishop of Sofia was told that if he 
would only consent to help Prince Ferdinand, and 
work together with him to bring about a recon- 
ciliation between his clergy and the Church of 
Rome, the See of Sofia would be raised to the rank 
of a Patriarchate, and he should be put at its head, 
thus being relieved from rendering obedience to the 
Patriarch of Constantinople. 

In exchange for this advancement he was to al- 
low the Jesuits to instal themselves all over Bul- 
garia, to open schools, and to make converts. A 
message from Pope Leo himself was handed to him, 
which said that the blessing of God would follow 
him if he would only work for the spiritual welfare 
of Bulgaria and help the Church of that country to 
keep its position national and independent; and, 



CARDINAL LEDOCHOWSKI 231 

finally, large sums of money were placed at his dis- 
posal, a proceeding which helped a good deal to a 
decision. 

In this adventure — for one can hardly call it any- 
thing else — everybody wap the dupe of somebody 
else. The Russian Foreign Office believed that by 
entering into the views of Prince Ferdinand it 
would definitely sever his connection with Austria; 
the Vatican hoped to bring about through his me- 
dium the union of the Latin and Greek Churches, 
which had been the subject of its secret desire for 
centuries; Austria hoped that the influence of the 
Jesuits would make her popular in the Balkans, 
where she knew very well that she was not liked; 
the Princess Clementine hoped that the position of 
her beloved son would become safer and stronger 
after the heavy sacrifice he had accepted in order 
to consolidate his dynasty; Prince Ferdinand hoped 
that by this step he was getting nearer to the ful- 
filment of his cherished schemes to be recognised 
as King of Bulgaria; the Emperor William alone 
hoped nothing, because he knew that his sugges- 
tions had borne fruit and that whatever happened 
it could only be to his benefit. 

A curious incident in this most curious historical 
episode was related to me some time later. It seems 
that after the departure of the envoy who had rep- 
resented the Tsar at the christening of Prince Boris, 
the latter's father wrote to William II. an account 
of the ceremony, adding the remark that the only 
thing for which he felt sorry was that he had not 



232 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

been able to have a photograph taken of it, which 
he would have liked to send to Berlin, but that the 
Archbishop of Sofia had objected to the idea. He 
concluded with the words : "I feel sure that Your 
Majesty would have appreciated it with the sense 
of humour which you possess." 

A few months later Prince Ferdinand went to 
Russia to present his compliments to the Tsar on 
the occasion of the latter's coronation. In Moscow 
he was more or less shunned by everybody; even 
the Imperial Family treated him with a certain re- 
serve. To a chosen few he unburdened his soul, 
and, when speaking to them about the conversion 
of his son, added that he himself was studying the 
Orthodox religion, as he might possibly follow his 
son's example. The world, he added, had attributed 
unworthy motives to him that were absolutely in- 
consistent with facts. "I hope," he continued, "that 
my children will reign in Bulgaria after I am dead 
and gone; and I have done what I thought it my 
duty to do in order to smooth the way for them in 
the future. A sovereign who professes another re- 
ligion to that of his people finds himself always, 
at one time or other, in conflict with them. I 
wished my son to be spared this dilemma, and so 
decided that he had better be brought up in the faith 
which is that of his country." One thing, however, 
Ferdinand achieved during the weeks he spent in 
Moscow. He had several interviews with the Ger- 
man Ambassador, Prince Radolin, and through him 



A PALPABLE SNUB 233 

conveyed to William IL his personal impressions of 
what he had seen and observed. 

Before taking leave of the Emperor and Empress 
he had expressed the desire to introduce to them 
his wife, the Princess Marie Louise, who had re- 
turned to Sofia from the shores of the Riviera, 
where she had spent some months after her abrupt 
departure from Bulgaria. The Empress of Russia 
replied that she would feel delighted to make the 
acquaintance of the Princess, upon which the pro- 
gramme of a visit was fixed there and then by 
Prince Ferdinand himself. 

About eighteen months later he visited Russia 
once more, this time accompanied by his consort. 
They were received at Peterhof with great pomp. 
Little Prince Boris was with his parents, attended 
by his tutor, a Bulgarian monk, who never left him 
and whose presence at the side of the boy excited 
a good deal of curiosity and even a certain amount 
of interest in Petersburg. The Princess also won 
all hearts, and altogether the visit was a greater 
success than one could have expected. 

Prince Ferdinand, encouraged by this reception, 
began to plan visits to other European Courts, and 
probably would have carried out his intention had 
not Fate interfered. The Princess Marie Louise 
died most unexpectedly in childbirth, and her hus- 
band had perforce to resign himself to months of 
quiet life. 

Ferdinand's mother hastened to his side, arriving 
from Vienna in the middle of winter, and installed 



234 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

herself at the palace of Sofia. She took up the edu- 
cation of the motherless children of her son, and 
watched over them with a devotion that left noth- 
ing to be desired. Under her guidance the two 
boys developed quite wonderfully, both physically 
and intellectually. She won their confidence, and 
by dint of much tenderness ruled them without the 
slightest sign of friction. 

Prince Ferdinand aliowed her considerably more 
authority in his household than he had ever ex- 
tended to his wife. Politically, too, he never took 
a step without her advice and concurrence; and 
when at last the Princess Clementine died, with her 
vanished the real Sovereign of Bulgaria. 

So long as Princess Clementine lived the ambi- 
tions of Prince Ferdinand were kept under a cloak, 
which he hastened to discard the moment that she 
was no longer at his elbow. He was determined 
to have a royal diadem on his brow, and as cir- 
cumstances did not altogether favour such a con- 
summation, he made up his mind to come to their 
rescue. Ferdinand had worked very hard at the or- 
ganisation of the Bulgarian army, and had even 
gone to the length of providing it with German 
military instructors, much to the dismay of the 
General Staff in Petersburg. The result was that 
the ruler of Bulgaria believed the moment had come 
when he might force down the throat of Europe a 
proclamation converting his principality into a 
kingdom, and in order to be able to achieve this de- 
sirable result he asked his great friend William II. 



GERMAN INFLUENCE IN BULGARIA 235 

to back him up with the weight of his influence. 
The German Emperor was deHghted, but he was 
far too shrewd to engage himself in an adventure 
that did not concern him personally. He therefore 
advised Prince Ferdinand to turn toward Austria. 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE PERSUADING OF TURKEY 

WHEN, after the outbreak of the present 
war, it began to be whispered that Tur- 
key might be persuaded to take part, a 
good many people laughed outright. What gain, 
they asked, could she achieve by mixing herself up 
in a conflict which it was undeniably to her advan- 
tage to watch from the point of view of a neutral 
Power? She had just gone through a war which, 
but for an unforeseen incident, might have ended 
disastrously for her. She had not yet succeeded in 
liquidating the costs of this war, and her credit 
stood about as low as it possibly could. Albania 
had been definitely wrested from her, and though 
she still held hopes of being able to win back this 
province, no reasonable being thought that these 
hopes could ever be realised. 

Her immediate interest, at least so it seemed, 
would best be served by remaining quiet and mak- 
ing use of the opportunity to reorganise her armies, 
her finances, and her general administration during 
a time when neither Russia, nor France, nor Eng- 
land, nor any other Power in the world could pos- 
sibly interfere with her. 

When, therefore. Rumour said that Turkey had 

236 



THE RENASCENCE OF TURKEY 237 

suddenly developed warlike instincts and was going 
to seek a quarrel with her traditional enemy Rus- 
sia, friends and enemies alike agreed that madness 
was the only possible explanation for such conduct, 
unless she were actuated by reasons about which 
the world knew nothing. 

I am going to try and explain these underlying 
currents to my readers, warning them at the same 
time that it is quite possible I shall not be quite 
accurate in my tale, as some of the darker shadows 
of the intrigue are not within my personal knowl- 
edge. But what I do know is sufficient to prove 
clearly what kind of influences were set in motion 
to persuade Turkey that a bold step in favour of the 
dual alliance — for Italy may be counted out — would 
bring innumerable benefits to the land of the Mos- 
lem and restore her rank as a great Power. 

When the second Balkan War had ended in tri- 
umph for Turkey and she recovered part of her lost 
territories, it would still have been possible to com- 
pel her to give up Adrianople had Europe collect- 
ively decided that it ought to remain in the posses- 
sion of Servia or of Bulgaria. Unfortunately, Eu- 
rope was not at all united on the point. The mis- 
fortune was that neither Servia nor Bulgaria in- 
spired sympathy. Bulgaria, by her perversity and 
her ruthlessness in provoking a conflict with her 
Slav brethren, was considered as a false and un- 
trustworthy nation ; moreover, she had incurred the 
complete indifference of Russia. On the other 
hand, Servia stood on the brink of a serious antag- 



238 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

onism in regard to Austria, and the latter Power 
would never have consented to her retaining such 
an important stronghold as Adrianople. 

Under these conditions the position of the vari- 
ous Cabinets whose task it was to bring about the 
conclusion of a peace urgently needed not only by 
the belligerents but also by the whole of Europe, 
for whom this everlasting Balkan question was a 
source of constant danger, became most difficult. 
When, therefore, Germany tentatively suggested 
through the medium of her ambassador in London, 
Prince Lichnowsky, that the best thing to do would 
be tacitly to accept accomplished facts and leave 
Adrianople in the hands of the Turk, there was a 
feeling of general relief all round. Turkey was 
told that, provided she behaved like a good child, 
she would be allowed to retain possession of the 
town which she had won back from a demoralised 
foe. 

Turkey promised everything — and, of course, did 
nothing. Whether Turkey was honest of intention 
is another question. Certainly her statesmen were 
not. Enver Pasha and the other leading spirits of 
the Committee of Union and Progress were clever, 
unscrupulous, quick at seizing hold of the slightest 
mistake on the part of their antagonists, anything 
but honest in the sense we understand the term in 
Europe. 

When things began to look black in Mid-Europe, 
Berlin was not slow in advising Enver Pasha of 
what had been done for his country. Enver Pasha 



THE POWER OF GOLD 239 

knew very well that this service was far from hav- 
ing been a disinterested one, but he knew, too, that 
it was to his interest to make common cause with 
Germany, who alone was seeking the friendship 
of Turkey. 

It was at this period of the crisis that large sums 
of money were remitted to Constantinople, not only 
to the credit of the Ottoman Government, but also 
to the account of Enver Pasha, the Sheikh-ul-Islam, 
and several influential members of the Committee 
of Unfon and Progress. It became known also that 
a German mission, headed by an officer of high mili- 
tary rank (General Liman von Sanders), was about 
to start for Turkey, to be placed at the service of 
the Sultan for the purpose of carrying on the thor- 
ough reorganisation of the Turkish army on Ger- 
man lines. 

Russia objected to this mission ; she felt that it 
was a blow directed against her, and that it was 
bound sooner or later to bring about a rupture of 
her relations with Turkey, which up to then had 
been quite tolerable. The Russian Ambassador in 
Constantinople, M. de Giers, though not exactly a 
Talleyrand, was an excellent and conscientious dip- 
lomat of much experience, who knew the East very 
well and the Turks even better. He hastened to 
write to his Government that this interference of 
Germany in the internal affairs of the Ottoman Em- 
pire was certain to bring about most unpleasant and 
perhaps even unexpected results. M. Sazonov then 
asked the German Ambassador in Petersburg 



240 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

(Count de Pourtales) for an explanation. He was 
told that there was no intention on the part of the 
Berlin Cabinet to interfere in any way whatsoever 
in the administration of the Turkish Empire, and 
that the mission of General von Sanders was only a 
continuation of the one which had previously been 
controlled by Field-Marshal von der Goltz. He was 
further assured that the mission was of a purely 
military character, and that the officers about to 
start for Constantinople had been ordered to resign 
their commissions in the German army before of- 
fering their services to the Sultan. He spoke in the 
most conciliatory terms, and even offered to restrict 
the activity of General von Sanders to Asia Minor, 
where he would command raw recruits, and thus 
not be in a position to influence things at Constanti- 
nople and in European Turkey, where the greater 
part of the Ottoman forces were quartered. 

The Russian Foreign Office accepted the explana- 
tions of Count de Pourtales, and orders were given 
to the newspapers not to criticise the subject of the 
mission of General von Sanders any further. The 
Tsar personally was absolutely convinced of the pa- 
cific dispositions of his Imperial cousin at Berlin. 
The British Government, too, for some reason or 
other, thought it better to pass in silence the de- 
parture of so many German officers for Constanti- 
nople. 

A month or two afterwards, in June, the Em- 
peror William II. invited a British squadron to 
visit him at Kiel, and showed himself more than 



BRITISH SQUADRON AT KIEL 241 

usually polite toward its commanding officer, Ad- 
miral Sir George Warrender. Indeed, the Em- 
peror William expressed the desire to be allowed, 
in his character of British admiral, to review the 
squadron. At the dinner which he gave in honour 
of the occasion the Emperor spoke in a most flat- 
tering manner of the pleasure he had experienced 
in being able to welcome at his table officers belong- 
ing to the glorious British Fleet. Curiously enough, 
at the same moment another squadron of the Brit- 
ish Fleet was being entertained at Petersburg. 

It was during the visit of the British squadron 
to Kiel that the assassination of the Archduke 
Franz Ferdinand took place at Sarajevo. A few 
days later, just before he started for Norway, Wil- 
liam 11. caused a ciphered message to be forwarded 
to Enver Pasha, who in obedience thereto hastened 
to Berlin. He spent two days in conference with 
General Moltke, the chief of the German staff, but 
did not see the Emperor. It was only much later 
that I heard anything about this incident, which 
had a far greater significance than one could have 
supposed at the time. I did not happen to be in 
Berlin during the brief visit of Enver Pasha; what 
I heard about it, therefore, did not enlighten me as 
to the real nature of the instructions which had 
been given. Later on it was reported to me that, 
immediately after his return to Constantinople, 
Enver Pasha began to make military preparations. 
One significant action was that he had the old forts 
that guarded the entrance of the Dardanelles re- 



242 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

paired and armed with German artillery. These 
proceedings did not escape the vigilant eyes of the 
ambassadors of the Allied Powers, but it was im- 
possible to prevent them being carried out. 

Whilst all this was going on, and the first bat- 
tles in France and in East Prussia were being 
fought, Turkey preserved a quiet and unassuming 
attitude. So demure she seemed that M. de Giers 
reported to his Government that perhaps he might 
yet be mistaken in his fears that she intended to 
begin hostilities against Russia. The only person 
who saw quite clearly what was going to happen, 
but who also was quite powerless to stop the catas- 
trophe, was the British Ambassador, Sir Louis 
Mallet, who, as his despatches have revealed, gave 
proof of the greatest foresight and political sa- 
gacity. 

In the meantime Marshal — no longer General — 
Liman von Sanders was drawing back into Euro- 
pean Turkey the numerous regiments that had been 
equipped and drilled in the plains of Asia Minor, 
and carefully following with his spies the move- 
ments of the Russian troops in the Caucasus. When 
the greater number of those that were quartered in 
that part of the country had been withdrawn, he 
reported to head-quarters at Berlin that he was 
ready for any emergency. Was it a coincidence or 
a definite plot that Turkey should choose a few days 
after the Marshal's report as the moment to bom- 
bard from her ships several towns on the Caucasian 
littoral? It was before war had been declared, and 



AN EYE ON THE SUEZ CANAL 243 

Turkey made excuses for her act. It was whis- 
pered in Petersburg that she had been encouraged 
by disaffection in the Caucasus, where the Russian 
Government had uncovered a vast conspiracy, but 
I was never able to confirm absolutely the truth of 
this report. 

Before Turkish vessels had opened 'fire on Rus- 
sian ships and bombarded peaceful towns such as 
Odessa or Batoum there had been many important 
conferences between Enver Pasha and the German 
Ambassador, Baron von Wangenheim. The Baron 
told Enver Pasha that Turkey could be promised 
no compensation or reward in the Balkans; any- 
thing in that direction would be too productive of 
further trouble, as Roumania, Austria, Servia, and 
Bulgaria all held strong views on Balkan matters. 
There remained, therefore, only Egypt, Algeria, 
and the Russia provinces forming part of the Cau- 
casus. Egypt especially was the one point upon 
which both Germany and Enver Pasha, who with 
the Committee of Union and Progress represented 
the only party in the Ottoman Empire who had any- 
thing to say as to its future destinies, could agree 
with alacrity. 

It may sound dishonourable foi one in my posi- 
tion to say so, but the world will guess the truth 
ere long, that Marshal Liman von Sanders had been 
given special instructions regarding that part of the 
campaign which aimed at the Suez Canal, and a 
number of German staff officers had been put at his 
disposal for the purpose of organising a raid on 



244 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

Egyptian territory at the first opportune moment. 
Meanwhile it was settled that, in the case of a vic- 
torious war, the Khedive Abbas Hilmi was to accept 
a half-Turkish, half-German garrison, and that 
Egypt, though nominally still under the suzerainty 
of the Sultan, was to be given a German adminis- 
tration and to become to all purposes practically a 
German colony. In exchange for this concession, 
Turkey was to receive all the money that she, or 
rather Enver Pasha, required; he — Enver Pasha 
— was ultimately to become life governor of Egypt, 
Abbas being retired into private life with a hand- 
some pension. Apart from this, Kars was to be 
restored to Turkey, Algeria and some British prov- 
inces of India were to become Turkish colonies, and 
Constantinople was to be made a neutral city. Such 
were the broad lines of the arrangement which was 
concluded. 

I have given my thoughts at some length on this 
Turkish episode, as it seems to me to be instructive 
from more than one point of view, the most striking 
of which is that it proves the absolute premeditation 
with which the present war was prepared. If only 
from this exclusive point of view, the action of the 
Emperor William II. deserves to be considered with 
a particular attention, because it is pregnant with 
consequences impossible to foresee at present, but 
which may in time not inconceivably bring about 
the utter fall of the German Empire. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

EGYPT IN THE BALANCE 

GERMAN designs received a distinct set- 
back when the British Government, a few 
months ago, deposed Abbas Hilmi and ele- 
vated the Khedivial chair into the throne of a Sul- 
tan. Hussein Kemal, on whom the honoured posi- 
tion was conferred, is a man of considerable culture, 
an ardent patriot, and a staunch supporter of Brit- 
ish rule. He is the second son of the late Khedive 
Ismail, and uncle, therefore, to the deposed Abbas 
Hilmi. Prince Hussein had been suspected more 
than once, even in the lifetime of his father and 
later on during the reign of his brother, Tewfik 
Pasha, of having plotted with the idea of being in- 
stalled as ruler of Egypt. From what I know per- 
sonally of Prince Hussein, I do not believe he would 
have lent himself to the overthrow of either his 
father or his brother, but I have no doubt that he 
would have liked a share in the administration of 
Egypt rather than being kept studiously in the back- 
ground, as was the case for a considerable number 
of years. He was an honest man, loved Egypt, and, 
to put it bluntly, was not such a fool as to remain 
blind to all that Egypt had gained since the British 
had established themselves in the land and taken 

245 



246 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

upon themselves the development of her huge re- 
sources. More than once he had urged on his 
nephew Abbas the necessity of remaining in accord 
with England. The Khedive, however, was entirely 
under the influence of Turkey and of his many Ger- 
man friends, and continued fatuously to dream of 
the overthrow of British rule. 

Despite the vehemence of his protestations of 
sympathy with Enver Pasha, the Turkish leader 
had not the slightest intention of upholding Abbas 
Hilmi beyond a certain point. Mohammed V. sim- 
ply did not count either way. The only person who 
felt any affection for Abbas, and who still supported 
him, was old Abdul Hamid, whose heart he had 
managed to conquer and to retain, and who, as I 
have told in an earlier chapter, had supplied his 
protege with money on more than one occasion. 
Abbas professed sound Moslem principles and de- 
clared himself against the innovations brought 
along by the party that had overthrown Abdul 
Hamid, and the latter, therefore, felt grateful to 
him for it. Abdul had done his best for Abbas 
Hilmi and often advised him as to what he was to 
do, giving him the benefit of his long experience in 
political matters. Unfortunately, he did not find a 
docile pupil. Abbas could not be honest even with 
the one man who had befriended him, and he had 
simply flattered the old Sultan because he hoped to 
inherit part of the large fortune which he knew the 
latter had contrived to place in safety beyond the 
reach of the cupidity of Enver Pasha. He was a 



ABBAS HILMI IN CONSTANTINOPLE 247 

very shrewd young man in what concerned his ma- 
terial interests, and showed more sagacity in that 
respect than in political matters. When he saw that 
his position was no longer secure at Cairo he man- 
aged to mortgage his estates up to the hilt, so as to 
get out of them all that he could previous to the 
sequestration which he knew was unavoidable when 
the eyes of England came to be opened in regard to 
his conduct. When he left Cairo in the spring of 
1914 on his annual holiday to Constantinople, he 
took away with him nearly the whole of the furni- 
ture of the Abdin Palace, having rather more than 
a presentiment that he would not be allowed to 
return. 

Having little discretion, he had been foolish 
enough more than once to tell his friends that he 
had managed to get into the good graces and favour 
of the German Emperor, and that he could rely on 
his protection should any difficulties arise between 
him and the English Agent, Lord Kitchener; and 
somehow, even before the question of his deposi- 
tion was ever raised, the impression had got round 
Cairo that his departure for his usual holidays 
meant a permanent absence. 

When I wrote the lines in which I described the 
trend of affairs toward a possible Turkish aggres- 
sion on Suez, I did not think that a bold stroke of 
English diplomacy would have cut the Gordian knot 
of a situation that was full of danger, by showing 
Abbas Hilmi that he must pay the penalty of trying 
to be too clever. My last expectation was that the 



248 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHINl 

Cabinet in London would so neatly checkmate the 
Emperor William II. and his influence in Turkey. 

What I wrote in the earlier pages of this book 
when touching upon the subject of Germany's de- 
signs on Egypt I can only repeat. I will maintain 
my cry of warning, for I know that nothing has 
changed the intentions of the Emperor. He is de- 
termined to lend to weak, tottering Turkey and her 
unprincipled Government all the aid possible, as he 
believes that Turkey alone, by calling on the forces 
of Islam all over the world, can shatter the founda- 
tions of the British Empire. 

One of the main reasons why Germany has be- 
gun this iniquitous war is that she must expand. 
Unfortunately, she has not realised the secret of 
true colonial government. Germany's idea, whether 
at home or abroad, consists of a military organisa- 
tion reinforced by vexatious police espionage, and 
autocratic methods. Militarism was introduced by 
Prince Bismarck, and the weight of his powerful 
personality caused it to take deep root into the 
whole country. But Prince Bismarck was a genius, 
and he proved it by the manner in which he con- 
ducted the two great wars through which Germany 
won her unity. They were cruel but not ferocious 
wars ; they were ruthless, but they did not disgrace 
civilisation, nor did Germany blush beneath the rep- 
robation of a shocked and outraged world, as now 
she has cause to do. 

To come back to the fate of the Khedive Abbas 
Hilmi. This unfortunate victim of his own ambi- 



ABBAS HILMI IN A DILEMMA 249 

tion and presumption did not experience the dismay 
that might have been expected when he heard that 
he had been dispossessed of his throne. He had un- 
bounded confidence in the power of Turkey, backed 
by Germany, to reinstate him, and he confided to 
his friends that he was not altogether sorry at the 
turn that events had taken, because they would give 
him the right, when he was back again at Cairo, to 
get rid of his troublesome uncle, Prince Hussein, 
whose usurpation had been sanctioned by his enemy 
England. He fully believed himself to be a martyr, 
and the German and Austrian Cabinets declared 
that he had been the victim of his honesty. 

In Constantinople his conduct was warmly ap- 
proved, and he was represented to the population 
as one who suffered for the cause of Islam. Never- 
theless, when he wanted to settle permanently — or 
at least until the dawn of better days — in his palace 
at Constantinople, he was politely told that his pres- 
ence there might become a source of embarrassment 
to the Turkish Government. He was offered the 
choice of two alternatives: to accept the command 
of the Turkish corps destined to march against 
Suez, or else to travel abroad. Abbas had no in- 
tention whatsoever of exposing himself to the dan- 
gers of an expedition, though he was fond of say- 
ing that he was ready to shed the last drop of his 
blood for the sake of the sacred principles of Islam. 

The ex-Khedive then decided that it would be 
best to go to Vienna, where he received a warm 
welcome from Count Berchtold and also from the 



256 THE NEAR EAST FROM WITHIN 

old Emperor. He was also made much of by Vien- 
nese Society. But when it came to going to Berlin 
it was hinted to Abbas at the German Embassy in 
Vienna that, the Emperor not being in his capital, 
his visit had better be postponed. When the ex- 
Khedive offered to visit William 11. at his head- 
quarters in the field — where already two Turkish 
princes, nephews of the Sultan, had been affably re- 
ceived — he was again discomfited. 

The fact was that the Emperor William was per- 
fectly well aware that the ex-Khedive would not 
hesitate to act toward Germany as he had to Eng- 
land, and, furthermore. Abbas now possessed abso- 
lutely no personal influence over public opinion in 
Egypt. The ex- Khedive, finding himself repulsed 
by the very person whose advice he had been fol- 
lowing blindly, wandered in the south of Germany 
and the north of Italy. Meanwhile he wrote to 
Enver Pasha to know what he was to do. Enver 
Pasha told him to return to Constantinople. 

Such is the situation as it presents itself at the 
moment of writing so far as Turkey, the Balkans, 
and the region of the Nile are concerned. I will 
not mention the various intrigues that are steadily 
going on in Algeria, Morocco, India, and wherever 
Islam is the prevailing faith. In the great struggle 
the German Emperor has not neglected one single 
chance nor hesitated to adopt any means, so long 
as his plans were forwarded. Among the dupes 
whom he has made to suffer the ex-Khedive Abbas 



AN UNBURDENED SOUL 251 

Hilmi occupies a foremost place; it is not at all 
unlikely that the next will be Enver Pasha. 

My work is done. I have tried to put down in 
this book all that I know and much that I suspect 
concerning the great events which are shaking the 
whole world at the moment I write. 

I shall not be forgiven for having revealed what 
I learned on the subject of this vast conspiracy, but 
at least I have the comfort of an unburdened soul. 



INDEX 



Abbas Hilmi, Khedive, 28, 109 
ct seq. 

and Abdul Hamid, 28, 113, 

246 

and Enver Pasha, 116 

Austria's views of his 

deposition, 250 

deposition of, 245, 249 

general mistrust of, 116, 117 

German sympathy at his 

deposition, 249 

Germany's conditions to, 

243, 244 

repulsed by William II., 250 

Abdul Hamid, Sultan, i et seq. 
, an interview with the Ger- 
man Emperor, 5-6, 9 

and Abbas Hilmi, 28, 113 

et seq., 246 

and his brother Mehmed 

Rechad (afterwards Moham- 
med v.), 27, 40, 41 

and his sister Mediha Sul- 

tane, 42 et seq. 

and the howling dervishes 

of Constantinople, 104 
and Turkey's part in the 

Great War, 27 

as politician, 3 

, author's impressions of, 2 

, Baron von Bieberstein and, 

ID 

, Baron von Wangenheim 

and, 69 



A^bdul Hamid degrades Envef 
Bey, 23 

, deposition of, 25, 34-35. 45 

. , Eastern fatalism of, 25 

frustrates an alliance with 

Germany, 95 

his fear of assassination, 

8, 24 

his immense wealth, 25, 26, 

246 

, his love of money, 11, 24 

, strained relations with Wil- 
liam II., 44 

, the German sympathies of, 

27 

■ , the Imperial harem of, il 

Adrianople, Turkey and, 47, 61, 

79, 189, 237, 238 
Albania, 236 
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, 

17 
Alexander, King of Servia, 168 
et seq., 184 

and his mother, 164 et seq. 

assumes conduct of Govern- 
ment, 170 

meets Madame Maschin, 

172 

murder of, 151, 167, 175, 

178 

Alexander, Prince of Batten- 
berg, 219, 221 

Alexander III., Tsar, 160, 163, 
221 

and Nicholas I., of Monte- 
negro, 208 



253 



254 



INDEX 



Alexander III. and the ruler of 
Bulgaria, 221, 225 

, death of, 226, 228 

Armenians, the, and Russia, 86 

Arsene Karageorgevitch, Prince, 
179 

Asia Minor, threatened Russian 
invasion of, 9 

Athens, the court life at, 202 

Austria annexes Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, 93, 135, 154, 214 

Austria, Emperor Francis Jo- 
seph of, 93, ISO, 225, 249 

Austrian envoy, the, and Queen 
Draga, 176 

Austria's attitude in the Bul- 
garian-Servian War, 187 



B 



Bagdad Railway, the, conceded 

to the Germans, 10 
Baksheesh, 25, 36, 53, ^^ 
Balkan crisis, the, 120 
problem, the, and Ger- 
many, 199 

wars, the, 38, 47, 58, 218, 237 

Balkans, the, Russian policy in, 

136 
Batoum, bombardment of, by 

Turks, 243 
Battenberg, Prince Alexander 

of, 219, 220 
, Prince Francis Joseph of, 

210 

, Prince Henry of, 210 

Beatrice, Princess, marriage of, 

210 
Belgrade, the Archbishop of, 

163. 
Berchtold, Count, 137, 154 
, welcomes Abbas Hilmi in 

Vienna, 249 



Berlin Congress, the, 64 

Court, the, and the Quiri- 

nal, 211 

, the Tsar's visit to, 119 

Beylerbey, Abdul Hamid at, 28, 
50 

Bieberstein, Baron Marschall 
von, 6, 10, 83 

, an Imperial recommenda- 
tion of Enver Bey, 56 

and Abdul Hamid, 10 ei 

seq. 

and Enver Bey, 22, 56 

and King Ferdinand of 

Bulgaria, 93-4 

and the howling dervishes 

of Constantinople, 103 et 
seq. 

and the plot against Me- 

diha Sultane, 44-5 

and the Young Turk Party, 

44 

, appointed to Constanti- 
nople, 18, 92, 114 

, appointed to the Embassy 

in London, 48, 95 

, death of, 48, 95 

, description of, 95 

, his intimate relations with 

Abbas Hilmi, 114 

, his relations with the 

Sheikh-ul-Islam, 103 

, his successor at the Su- 
blime Porte, 69 

, secret allies of, u et seq. 

, the confidant of William 

II., 9-10 

warns Abdul Hamid of a 

conspiracy, 24 

Bismarck, Prince, and German 

militarism, 248 
and the King of Roumania, 

128, 133 et seq. 



INDEX 



255 



Bismarck and the question of a 
Roumanian monarchy, 128, 133 
et seq. 

, dismissal of, 133 

, his contempt for the Turk, 

89 

Bompard, M. Louis, 98-9 

Boris, Crown Prince, the re- 
baptism of, 227 et seq. 

Bosnia, annexation of, 93, 135, 
154, 214 

Bouillon, Godfrey de, the Kai- 
ser and, 75 

Bourbon-Parme, Princess Marie 
Louise of, 223 

British Government, the, and 
the German mission to Con- 
stantinople, 240 

depose Abbas Hilmi, 245 

Brunswick, the Duke of, 119, 138 
Bucharest, author's impressions 

of, 140 et seq. 

• , peace signed at, 60, 189 

, the Treaty of, 127, 142, 218 

Bulgaria and Adrianople, 47 

and Turkey, 66 

Bulgaria, Crown Prince Boris of, 

227 et seq. 
Bulgaria, King Ferdinand of, 

59, 66, 69, 94, 120, 123, 218 

et seq. 

, the Jesuits in, 67 

, war with Servia and 

Greece, 187 
Bulgarian atrocities, the, 102 
Byzantium. (C/. Constantino- 

pie) 

C 

Carmen Sylva. {Cf. Elizabeth, 

Queen of Roumania) 
Carol, King of Roumania, 120, 

127 et seq. 



Carol, a field-marshal in the 
Russian army, 136 

, a letter from William IL, 

138 

, advises the Kaiser to take 

a "soothing mixture," 148 

, and Bismarck, 128, 133 et 

seq. 

, and William IL, 133 et 

seq. 

, author visits, 144 et seq. 

, death of, 129, 139 

, his efforts to avoid the 

Great War, 139 

, his financial genius, 129 

, speaks his mind, 146 et seq. 

Cetinje, author's visit to, 212 et 
seq. 

Charles of HohenzoUern, Prince. 
(C/. Carol, King of Rouma- 
nia) 

Christians in Turkey, Russia and 
the, 64 et seq. 

, William IL and the, 68 

Church of Rome, the, 65, 67, 227 
et seq. 

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, 
the, William II. visits, 75-6 

Clementine, Princess of Orleans, 
219 

and her son. Prince Ferdi- 
nand, 219 et seq. 

and the German Emperor, 

225 

, death of, 224, 234 

, her religious instincts and 

ideals, 67, 219-220, 224, 226, 227 

, the virtual ruler of Bul- 
garia, 218, 234 

Committee of Union and Prog- 
ress, the, 22, 238, 239. (C/. 
also Enver Bey and Young 
Turk Party) 



256 



INDEX 



Constantin, Prince, becomes 

King of the Hellenes, 203 
, held responsible for defeat 

of Greek army, 201 

, his education, 199, 201 

, marries Princess Sophie, 

200 
, strained relations with his 

father, 201 
Constantinople, Abbas Hilmi's 

departure from, 249 
, ambassadors at, 18, 88 et 

seq. 

, espionage in, 57 

, German influence in, 82 

, German military missions 

to, 14, 46, 48, 62, 80, 163 

, intrigue in, 2>^ et passim 

, life in, 29 et seq. 

, ministers attacked in the 

streets, 60 
, Russian influence in, 64 et 

seq. 

, Society in, 30 et seq. 

, the dancing and howling 

dervishes of, 103-4 
, the Diplomatic Corps in, 

33 
, the Greek O r t h o d ox 

Church in, 65 
, the Greek Patriarch of, 67, 

227, 230 
, the Roman Church in, 

65 

■ , the old walls erected by 

Justinian, 34 

, the social life of the Eu- 
ropean colony in, 35 

, William II.'s journey to, 

90 

Conti, Count, Italian Ambassa- 
dor at Constantinople, 12 

Cromer, Lady, 112 



Cromer, Lord, the English 
Agent-General in Egypt, 109 
et seq. 



D 



Damad Ferid Pasha Bouchati, 

43 

Damad Nedjib, Pasha, 42-3 

Dancing dervishes of Constanti- 
nople, the, 103 

Danilo, Crown Prince, 207 

Dardanelles forts, the, Enver 
Pasha's activities, 241 

De Giers, M., (^, 69, 99, 239, 242 

, and the Prusso-Turkish al- 
liance, 71 

, his ideas of Moslem friend- 
ship, 71 

, opposes appointment of 

General von Sanders, 71 

Denmark, the King and Queen 
of, 202 

Diplomatists at the Sublime 
Porte, 88 et seq. 

Draga, Queen, an anonymous 
letter to, 177 

, an emissary from the Kai- 
ser, 174 

, appointed lady-in-waiting 

to ex- Queen Natalie, 172 

, divorced from her first 

husband, 172 

, marries the young King 

Alexander, 173 et seq. 

, murder of, 151, 175, 178 



Egypt, Abbas Hilmi, Khedive of, 
28, 109, 116-7, 243, 244, 24s, 246, 
249, 250 

, Germany's designs on, 248 



INDEX 



257 



Egypt, her future — if Germany 

victorious, 244 
—■ — , Lord Cromer in, 109 et seq. 

, Lord Kitchener appointed 

Agent in, 113, 247 

, Sir Eldon Gorst and, 113 

, Sultan Hussein Kemal, 245 

, Turkish plans for attack 

of, 243 
Elizabeth, Queen of Roumania, 
144 et seq. 

, death of her only child, 145 

, her personality, 144 

, King Carol's admiration 

for, 14s 
England and the Suez Canal, 
no, IIS, 117- (Cf. Suez Ca- 
nal) 
, her apathy to Teutonic in- 
fluence in Turkey, 15 
Enver Bey (afterwards Pasha), 
39, 51, 52-63, 116, 187, 238 

, a ciphered message from 

the Kaiser to, 241 

, a flying visit to Berlin, 86 

, a letter of recommendation 

from the German Emperor, 
56 

, a note to author, 87 

and the Turco-Slav war, 

79 

confers with Baron von 

Wagenheim, 243 

, his activities in the Dar- 
danelles, 241 

, his conspiracy against Ab- 
dul Hamid, 23, 56, 57 

, his faith in the Turkish 

army, 59 

, his feminine conquests in 

Stamboul, 57 

■ , his grudge against Russia, 



Enver Bey, his opinion of the 
Turkish army, 54 

, Marshal von Sanders' co- 
operation with, 81 

on Abdul Hamid, 53, 54, 

55 

oflfers his services to the 

Kaiser, 61 

, political importance of, 52 

re-organizes the Turkish 

army, 60 

, Turkish military attache at 

Berlin, 52 

, von Bieberstein and, 22 

, William II. and, 39, 56, 62 

iCf. also Young Turk 

Party) 

Essad Effendi. (C/. Sheikh-ul- 

Islam) 
Euxinograd, the Palace of, 221 



Ferdinand, King of Bulgaria, 59, 
66, 94, 120, 123, 218 et seq. 

, a reconciliation with Mo- 
hammed v., 69 

, and the invasion of Servia, 

8s-6 

, and the Jesuits, 67 

, and the reunion of the Na- 
tional Bulgarian Church with 
Rome, 228 

, election of, as Prince of 

Bulgaria, 220 

, his desire to be Emperor 

of a Christian Turkey, 59, 66-7, 
68, 224 

, interview with the Em- 
peror Francis Joseph, 225 

, intrigues against, 222 

, marries Princess Marie 

Louise, 223 



258. 



INDEX 



Ferdinand, King, re-organizes 
the Bulgarian army on Ger- 
man lines, 234 

, visits the Tsar, 232-3 

Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, 162, 
181 

France and Turkey, 15 et seq. 

Francis Joseph, Emperor of 
Austria, 93 

, and his heir-presumptive, 

150 

, interview with Prince Fer- 
dinand of Bulgaria, 225 

, receives Abbas Hilmi after 

his deposition, 250 

Francis Joseph, Prince of Bat- 
tenberg, 210 

Franco-Russian agreement, the, 
18, 78 

Franz Ferdinand, Archduke, 94 

, a morganatic marriage, 152 

at Windsor Castle, 153, 154 

, his friendship with King 

Ferdinand of Bulgaria, 150 

, murder of, 156, 167, 241 

, strained relations with 

William II., 151 

, visited by the Kaiser, 126, 

150 et seq. 

Frederick, Archduke, 151 

Frederick III., Emperor, 127 

, death of, 200 

, marriage of his daughter, 

200 

Frederick, Empress, 200, 201 



Garroni, Marquis, 100 
George, Crown Prince of Servia, 

182-3 
, his succession renounced, 

186 



George; Duke of Leuchtenberg, 

209 
George, King of Greece, assassi- 
nation of, 137, 187, 203, 204 

, his nationality, 199 

George V., King, visits Berlin, 

120, 121 
German Crown Prince, the, 146, 

148, 149, 196 
German Emperor, the. (C/. 

William II.) 
German ex-detective, a, head of 

the Sultan's secret service, 8 
German financial circles and 

Turkey, 78, 79 

intrigues in Turkey, 243 et 

passim 

militarism, Bismarck the 

founder of, 248 

, M. Hartwig's opin- 
ions on, 193 

military missions to Tur- 
key, 14, 15, 46, 48, 62, 80, 163, 
239, 240 

overtures in the Near East : 

an intercepted document, 

84 
prestige in the Near East, 

74 et seq. 
Germany, a factor in Turkish 

politics, 14 
, an alliance with Turkey, 

83-4 

and the annihilation of 

Russian influence in the Near 
East, 181 

and the Bagdad Railway, 

ID 

and the Balkan problem, 

199 

and the Suez Canal, no, 

IIS, 117, 123, 124, 138, 153, 
195, 243 



INDEX 



259 



Germany desires alliance with 
Turkey, 9 

, her exports to Turkey, 82 

, interference in internal af- 
fairs of Turkey, 239 

, treaty with Turkey, 27, 95 

Ghika, Prince, 166 

Ghika, Princess, 166, 167, 172 

Goltz, Marshal von der, remod- 
els the Ottoman army, 14, 46, 
48, 80, 89, 240 

Gorst, Sir Eldon, 113 

Gortschakov, Prince, 89 

Great War, the, Germany's main 
reason for, 248 

, its cause, 156 

, the first battles, 242 

Greco-Turkish War, the, 200 

Greece, 181 

• and Bulgaria, 66 

/ and German diplomacy, 198 

and Turkey, 66 

, rival influences in, 198 et 

seq. 

, the war with Turkey, 15 

Greek Christians, the, Count Ig- 
natieff and, 65-6 

Greek Orthodox Church, the, 67, 
227 et seq. 

Guentchitch, M., 69, 182, 188 



H 



Hartwig, M., Russian Minister 
in Belgrade, 188, 190 et seq. 

, death of, 196 

, his bete-noire, 190 

, his character study of Wil- 
liam II., 191-2 

Helene, Princess, marriage of, 
210 

Henry, Prince of Battenberg, 
marriage of, 210 



Herzegovina, annexation of, 93, 

135, 154, 214 
Hohenberg, the Duchess of, 126, 
150, 151, 155 

, at Windsor Castle, 153, 154 

, marries Archduke Franz 

Ferdinand, 152 

, murder of, 156, 167 

, William II., and, 152 et 

seq. 
Howling dervishes of Constanti- 
nople, the, 103 

, Abdul Hamid and, 104 

, Bieberstein and, 103 et seq. 

Humbert, King of Italy, 210 
Hussein, Kemal, Sultan, 245 



Ignatieff, Count, 39, 65-6 

Isabella, Archduchess, 151 

Islamism, 103 et seq. 

Ismail, Khedive, 245 

Italian Royal Family, the, rela- 
tions with the Vatican, 210- 11 

Italy, King Victor Emmanuel of, 
211 

Italy, the Queen of, 210-11 



Jeltsch, Baron Saurma de, 92 
Jerusalem, the Kaiser's cool re- 
quest, 76 

, the Kaiser's visit to, 75 

Jesuits, the, 67, 152, 219, 224, 226, 

227, 230 
Justinian, Byzantian walls of, 34 
Jutta, Duchess of Mecklenburg- 
Strelitz, 207 

K 

Karageorgevitch dynasty, the, 
157, 179 et seq. 



26o 



INDEX 



Kiel, the British squadron at, 

240, 241 
Kitchener, Lord, 114, 247 
Konopischt, the German Em- 
peror at, 150 et seq. 



Latin and Greek Churches, the 

question of reunion of, 227 et 

seq. 
Ledochowski, Cardinal, 230 
Leo XIII, Pope 229, 230 
Lichnowsky, Prince (German 

Ambassador in London), 48, 

238 
Livadia, the Tsar visits, 71 
Lobanoff, Prince, 66, 228 

M 

Majoresco, M. T., 142, 143 

Mallet, Sir Louis, 100, 242 

Margherita, Queen of Italy, 210 

Marie Louise, Princess of Bour- 
bon- Parme, 223, 229, 233 

, and the re-baptism of her 

son, Prince Boris, 229-230 

, death of, 233 

Mary, Queen, at the wedding of 
the Duke and Duchess of 
Brunswick, 119 

Maschin, Colonel, 172 

Maschin, Madame Draga. (C/. 
Draga, Queen) 

Mecklenburg- Strelitz, the Duch- 
ess of, 207 

Mediha Sultane, Princess, 42, 43 

, Enver Bey and, 57 

Mehmed Rechad Khan. (Cf. 
Mohammed V., Sultan) 

Metternich, Count, 48 

Milan, King of Servia, 151, 157 



Milan, abdication of, 163 

, and the marriage of his 

son Alexander, 174 

, as intermediary for Ger- 
many, 163 

, divorces Queen Natalie, 

163 

, interview with his son 

King Alexander, 170 

, reorganises the army on 

German methods, 163 

, reunited to Queen Natalie, 

164, 165, 169 

, unhappy domestic rela- 
tions of, 158 et seq. 

Mohammed V., Sultan, 38 et 
seq. 

, Abdul Hamid and, 27 

and Enver Bey, 47 

and his sister, Mediha Sul- 
tane, 42 et seq., 48 

and the Moslems, 103-104. 

and William II., 48 

, appearance of, 39 

, author's conception of his 

personality, 50 

, election of, 27 

, his Grand Vizier assassi- 
nated, 47 

, his relations with his 

brother, Abdul Hamid, 27, 40, 
42 

proclaims a Holy War, 107 

, reconciliation with King 

Ferdinand, 69 
reviews regiments off to 

the front, 47 
visits the deposed Abdul 

Hamid, 42, 50 
Moltke, General, 163, 241 
Montebello, Count de, French 

Ambassador at Petrograd, 16 
Montenegro, 181 



INDEX 



261 



Montenegro, a subsidy from the 
Tsar, 209-10 

becomes a kingdom, 217 

declares war on Germany, 

217 

, King Nicholas of, 206 et 

seq. 
, the failure of German in- 
trigue in, 206 

, union of people and ruler 

in, 212 
- — , wars with Turkey, 208 
Moors, the, William II. and, 77 
Morocco, William II. at, 75 



N 



Naples, Prince of. (C/. Victor 
Emmanuel) 

Natalie, Queen of Servia, 157 et 
seq. 

and her son, 164 ei 

seq. 

, Belgrade's enthusiastic 

welcome to, 165 

, divorced from King Milan, 

163 

, her son kidnapped, 160 

ineffectually opposes her 

son's marriage, 173 

, reconciliation with King 

Milan, 165, 169 

National Bulgarian Church, the, 
227, 228 

Nazli, Princess, 112 

Nelidoff, M., 66 

Nicholas I., King of Montene- 
gro, 206 

, author received by, 212 

, his connection with Rus- 
sia, 207 

, his daughters, 209, 210 



Nicholas I., King of Montene- 
gro, his influence over the 
Slav races, 206 et seq. 

, the opinion of the Tsar 

Alexander III. regarding, 208 

, visits William II., 217 

Nicholas I., Tsar of Russia, and 
the mutiny of 1848, 162 

Nicholas II., Tsar of Russia, 68, 
69 

, a holograph letter from 

the Kaiser, 121 et seq. 

, accession of, 226 

, and King Carol of Rou- 

mania, 136 

, and the German Emperor, 

119 et seq. 

, and the re-baptism of 

Prince Boris, 228 et seq. 

, convinced of the pacific 

dispositions of the Kaiser, 
240 

, his reply to the Kaiser, 124 

et seq. 

, suggests arbitration in the 

Balkan crisis, 125 

, visits Constanza, 139 

Nicolaievitch, Grand Duke Pe- 
ter, 209 

Nobel Prize, the, 192 

Nubar Pasha, no 



Obrenovitch dynasty, the, 157 
Odessa, Turkish bombardment 

of, 243 
Olga, Grand Duchess, 137, 138 
Olga, Queen of Greece, 200, 203 



Pallavicini, Margrave, 96 
Parme, the exiled Duke of, 223 



2(i2 



INDEX 



Pashitch, M., 69, 159, 165, 166, 
176 et seq., 181-2, 186, 187, 189 

Per a, 2, 3, 29 et seq. (Cf. Con- 
stantinople) 

Perotes, the, 29 et seq. 

Peter Karageorgevitch, Prince, 
177 

, elected king, 178 

— ' — , marriage of his daughter, 
186 

, proclamation of, 180 

, Servia under his rule, 179 

et seq. 

Petersburg. (See Petrograd) 

Petrograd, 64 

, King Nicholas's frequent 

visits to, 209, 210 

, the British Fleet enter- 
tained at, 241 

, the French ambassador at, 

16 

, the Holy Synod in, 227 

Pourtales, Count, 121, 240 

Prussia, the military party in, 
146 

Q 

QUIRINAL, the, 211 



R 



Radolin, Prince, 233 
Radoslavoff, M., 220 
Radowitz, Baron, German am- 
bassador at Constantinople, 

89-91 

, transferred to Madrid, 91 

Radowitz, Baroness, 90 
Roman Church, the, 67 
, and the question of the 

Bulgarian Church, 227 et seq. 
Rome, Pope Leo XIII., 229-30 
Roon, Field-Marshal, 163 



Roumania, 181 

and Russia, 134 et seq. 

, Crown Prince Ferdinand 

of, 140 et seq. 
, German intrigue against, 

137 et passim 
, King Carol of, 120, 127 et 

seq. 
, Queen Elizabeth of, 144 et 

seq. 
, the Crown Princess of, 

140, 142 
Russia, a secret understanding 

with Servia, 69, 188 
, Alexander III., Tsar of, 

160, 163, 208, 221, 225, 226, 228 

and Christianity, 68 

and Germany, 16 et passim 

and Roumania, 134 et seq. 

and Servia, 158 et seq. 

as absolute mistress of the 

Black Sea, 122, 123 

, Enver Bey and, 60 

, Nicholas I., Tsar of, 162, 

216 
, Nicholas II., Tsar of, 68, 

69, 119, 121, 124, 125, 136, i39» 

226, 228 et seq. 
, the traditional enemy of 

Turkey, 51 
Russian Government warned of 

German intrigues in Turkey, 

20 
influence in Constantinople, 

64 et seq. 

support for Servia, 69 

Russo-Roumanian alliance, fail- 
ure of the, 139 



Sadowa, the battle of, 128 
St. Sophia, the Cathedral of. 



INDEX 



263 



an ancient prophecy regarding, 
203 

Salonika, Abdul-Hamid, impris- 
oned at, 25, 26, 27 

, King George of Greece as- 
sassinated at, 137, 187, 203, 204 

Sanders, General (afterwards 
Marshal) Liman von, 2y, 48, 
62, 71, 239, 240, 242 

, his audience with the Kai- 
ser, 80 

, his part in the Great War, 

243 

, personality of, 80 

San Stefano, the Peace of, 66 

Sarajevo, the tragedy of, 156, 
241 

Sazonov, M., 139, 197, 239 

Schebeko, M., 136 

Scutari, fall of, 217 

Secret agents, a prince of, 8 

police in Turkey, 7 

Selamlik, the ceremony of the, i 

Serb, an astute, 20 

Servia, an understanding with 
Russia, 69, 188 

and Germany, 181 

■ and Russia, 158 et seq. 

, Crown Prince George, 

182-3, 186 

, imprisonment of Ministers 

in, 164 

, in the 'Eighties, 157 et seq. 

, invasion of, suggested by 

the Kaiser, 85 

, King Alexander of, 163 et 

seq. 

, King Milan of, 151, 157, 

158, 163, 164, 16s, 174 

, Queen Natalie of, 158 et 

seq. 

, under King Peter, 179 et 

seq. 



Servian army remodelled on 
German lines, 163 

army remodelled on Rus- 
sian methods, 164 

Sheikh-ul-Islam, the, 52, 102 et 
seq., 105 et seq. 

and William II., 106 

, his attitude at the com- 
mencement of the Great War, 
106 

, his dislike of Abdul 

Hamid, 105 

Slav races, the influence of 
King Nicholas over, 206 et 
seq. 

Smolna, the Convent of, 209 

Sofia, the Archbishop of, 230, 
232 

, a message from the Pope, 

230-1 

Sophie, Princess (now Queen 
of Greece), 181, 200 

Stamboul, author's visit to, and 
his conclusions, 49 

, loss of Russian prestige 

in, 64 et seq. 

Stambouloff, M., 220, 222 

, murder of, 223 

Suez, Turkish aggression on, 
247 

Suez Canal, the, German de- 
signs on, no, 115, 117, 123, 124, 
138, 153, 195, 243 



Tewfik, Pasha, 109 et seq., 245 
Triple Alliance, the, Servia and, 

161 

, Turkey and, 94 

Triple Entente, the, 135, 136 
Turkey, a change for the better, 

38 



264 



INDEX 



Turkey, an alliance with Ger- 
many, 83, 84 

, an ex-German detective in 

Abdul Hamid's household, 8 

and the Balkans, 243 

and the Great War, 236 et 

seq. 

at war with Montenegro, 

208 

, bribery and corruption in, 

25, 2,(>, 53 

declares war against the 

Allies, 27 

, German financial circles 

and, 78, 79 
, German military missions 

to, 15, 46, 48, 62, 80, 163, 239, 

240 
, loss of French prestige in, 

16 

, morality in, 36 

, secret reorganisation of, 

21 
, Sultan of, his mission to 

greet the Tsar, 71 
, Sultans of. (C/. Abdul 

Hamid and Mohammed V.) 
, treaty with Germany, 27, 

95 

, war with Greece, 15 

, war with Servia and Bul- 
garia, 102 
Turkish army, the, remodelled 
on German lines, 14, 46, 48, 
62, 80, 163, 239, 240 

politics under Mohammed 

v., 27 

ships bombard the Cauca- 
sian littoral, 240 

Turks, their political faith, 102 

et seq. 
, their tolerance in religious 

matters, 103 



Vatican, the, and the Italian 
Royal Family, 211 

Venizelos, M., 218 

Victor Emmanuel, King of 
Italy, 211 

an alliance between Ger- 
many and Montenegro, 212 

, wedding of, 211 

Victor Emmanuel. (C/. Naples, 
Prince of.) 

Victoria, Empress, wife of Fred- 
erick III. (See Frederick, 
Empress.) 

Victoria, Queen of Great Brit- 
ain and Ireland, 210 

Villebois, Dr. van der Does de, 
100 

W 

Wangenheim, Baron von, 69, 

96, 100 
i confers with Enver Pa- 
sha, 243 
Warrender, Admiral Sir George, 

241 
Wied, Princess Elisabeth of, 

(C/. Elizabeth of Roumania.) 
William II., German Emperor, 

a holograph letter to the 

Tsar, 121 et seq. 
■ , a quarrel with his sister. 

Princess Sophie, 200 

, accession of, 89 

— — , an indiscreet speech by, 77 
, an interview with Abdul 

Hamid, 5-6, 8 

, and Abdul Hamid, 44 

, and Baron von Bieber- 

stein, 10 et seq. 
, and Enver Bey, 39, 56, 62 



INDEX 



265 



William II., German Emperor, 

and King Alexander of 

Servia, 171 
, and King Carol of Rou- 

mania, 134 et seq. 
, and King Milan of Servia, 

162 

, and Mohammed V., 48 

, and Moslem Egypt, log et 

seq. 

and the Christian commu- 
nities of Constantinople, 68 

and the deposition of Ab- 
dul Hamid, 23 

, and the Duchess of Hohen- 

berg, 152 et seq. 

, and the ex-Khedive Abbas 

Hilmi, 250 

, and the German Crown 

Prince, 146, 148, 149, 196 

, and the inevitability of 

war with Russia, 78 

, and the marriage of the 

Prince of Naples, 210-11 

, and the second Balkan 

War, 69 

, and the Tsar of Russia, 

119 et seq. 

, and the welfare of the 

Turk, 10 

, and the Young Turk par- 
ty, 19 

, at Konopischt, 150 et seq. 

, at Morocco, 77 

, desires the cession to Ger- 
many of Jerusalem, y6 

' , his belief in Turkey, 248 

, his charges against Eng- 
land, 122 et seq. 

, his hatred of Lord Cro- 
mer, III 

, his intense patriotism, 78 

, his opinion of Abdul Ha- 
mid, 17 



William II., German Emperor, 

, his regret at fall of Adri- 

anople, 79 

, his relations with his son, 

146, 148 

, his relationship with the 

reigning house of Greece, 199 

, holograph letters to Abdul 

Hamid, 13, 19 

, invites a British squadron 

to Kiel, 241 

, relations with King Fer- 
dinand, 94 

, snubbed by Tsar Alexan- 
der III., 206-7 

, suggests invasion of Ser- 
vian territory, 85 

, the keeper of Abdul Ha- 

mid's private purse, 25-6 

, the real ruler of Turkey, 

27 

, visits Norway, 241 

, visits the Holy Land, 75 

, visits the Sultan, 68 

Women, emancipation of, 7, 42j 
43 

Y 

YiLDiz, Kiosk, i, 7, 8 

, German secret allies in, 11 

Young Turk party, the, 7, 21, 39 

, Abdul Hamid and, 21-2 

, depose and imprison Ab- 
dul Hamid, 25, 26 

, the leader of. {Cf. Enver 

Bey) 

, William II. and, 19 

, Von Bieberstein and, 44. 



Zichy; Count Eugene, 162, 

1 70- 1 
Zinovieff, M., 66 



